‘…Without fear or favour’: BBC ‘back to normal’ after I-T survey ends

The survey operation by the income tax department at the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) offices in Delhi and Mumbai has ended on Thursday, around three days after they started the drive in cases related to international taxation and alleged transfer of profits.

The international broadcaster said in a Twitter post that the I-T officials have left the offices and they will ‘continue to cooperate with the authorities’.

“The income tax authorities have left our offices in Delhi and Mumbai. We will continue to cooperate with the authorities and hope matters are resolved as soon as possible,” the BBC said, adding that it will ‘continue to report without fear of favour’.

It further said that some its staff have ‘faced lengthy questioning’ and had to ‘stay overnight’. According to source, as reported by NDTV, mobile phones of BBC’s senior employees have been cloned and several desktops and laptops have been scanned during the operation. The laptops and phones were later handed back to the officials.

Director of BBC World Service Liliane Landor earlier asked all its staff to stay off all social media platforms.

The survey operation was conducted after the BBC aired a documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riot in the United Kingdom, which criticised the role of then chief minister of the state Narendra Modi.

According to IT officials, the BBC was served notices in the past, however, it failed to provide any ‘convincing response’. The income tax department is yet to issue its statement on the survey.