Income Tax surveys at BBC offices enters day 3

At least 10 senior employees of the BBC have not gone home since the IT department launched a ‘survey’ at their offices in Delhi and Mumbai, sources said as the operation entered its third day on Thursday, 16 February 2023

Meanwhile the IT officials gathered financial data from staff and made various copies of documents of the media outlet in an action that comes weeks after the British broadcaster aired their two-part documentary on PM Narendra Modi and 2002 Gujarat riots.

In a statement the staff of the outlet said that they were broadcasting their news like usual and many employees were working from their home.

The survey that started at the BBC offices around 11:30 has reached over 45 hours now, officials said. The authorities revealed on Wednesday that their exercise will likely to continue for some more time saying the “exact time frame to call the operation closed rests entirely on the teams on the ground”.

The survey is being carried out to investigate issues related to transfer pricing rules and international taxation. Last week, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea seeking the imposition of a complete ban on the BBC in the wake of controversial documentary. Another set of petitions challenging government’s notice to block the links of controversial documentary on social media platforms will be heard in April 2023.