India’s financial crimes agency is investigating the BBC over alleged violations of foreign exchange rules, less than two months after the corporation’s Indian headquarters were raided by tax inspectors.
According to officials, the latest investigation is being conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), a central government agency.
In February, dozens of tax inspectors carried out a three-day “survey” of the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai. Tax authorities accused the BBC of irregularities in its tax filings and illegally diverting its profits.
Both investigations come after a BBC documentary that was critical of the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi. India’s government condemned the documentary as “colonial propaganda” that was “undermining the sovereignty and integrity of India” and banned it from being shared on social media.
The two-part BBC series, India: the Modi Question focused on Modi’s time as chief minister of Gujarat during violent Hindu-Muslim riots that ripped through his state in 2002 and left more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead.
The BBC documentary revealed that a British government document from the time had found Modi “directly responsible” for not stopping the killings of Muslims during the riots, and said the violence had “all the hallmarks of genocide”. A special investigating team and India’s Supreme Court both cleared Modi of all wrongdoing.
The BBC has stood by the documentary, stating it was “rigorously researched according to highest editorial standards”.
Though the documentary was not broadcast in India, it prompted a strongly worded backlash from the government, with BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia calling the BBC “the most corrupt organisation”. Several students who tried to hold screenings of the banned film were arrested or faced accusations of “treason”.
During the February raids dozens of inspectors cloned laptops and mobile phones and questioned editorial staff. The government denied there was any correlation between the documentary and the raids, which it described as “routine scrutiny”.
The more recent case against the BBC was reportedly filed by the ED under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) two weeks ago. The broadcaster has reportedly been made to hand over financial documents and several staff members have been questioned.
The ED has previously been used against foreign organisations that have been deemed to be critical of the government. Amnesty International and Greenpeace are among the organisations who have had their accounts frozen and their operations halted in India after such an investigation.
The UK government avoided making a public statement on the February BBC raids but in March British foreign minister James Cleverly said he had raised the issue privately with his Indian counterpart during a G20 meeting held in Delhi.
The BBC has yet to respond to requests for comment.
