After a three-day investigation that entailed searching through files and copying data from some digital devices, the income tax inspectors left the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai on Thursday night. The UK national broadcaster confirmed the news on Twitter and stated that they will keep working with the authorities.
Below is the complete statement made by BBC following the conclusion of the income tax ‘survey’:
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.
We are supporting staff – some of whom have faced lengthy questioning or been required to stay overnight – and their welfare is our priority. Our output is back to normal and we remain committed to serving our audiences in India and beyond.
The BBC is a trusted, independent media organisation and we stand by our colleagues and journalists who will continue to report without fear or favour.
The searches were conducted a few weeks following an enormous uproar regarding a BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the deadly sectarian riots in Gujarat in 2002.
India: The Modi Question, a two-part series, was removed from public platforms last month. YouTube videos and Twitter tweets containing links to the documentary were blocked by the Center using emergency powers granted by IT Regulations. The documentary was denounced by the administration as ‘hostile propaganda and anti-India rubbish.’
The BBC aired a documentary critical of Prime Minister Modi over the riots that ravaged Gujarat in 2002, when he was Chief Minister, and the opposition charged that the government was targeting the BBC because of this.
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