ED probes BBC India for alleged foreign funding irregularities

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a case against the India division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for irregularities in foreign funding, news agency ANI reported. The ED has sought documents and also called for recording the statements of some company executives under the FEMA Act, as per officials.

The central agency is looking at alleged foreign direct investment (FDI) related violations by the company. The British public broadcaster was also subject to an Income Tax survey in February this year, which lasted for 59 hours. 

The Income Tax department surveyed BBC's Delhi and Mumbai offices. Laptop and mobile phones of employees were also scanned at the time. 

The BBC is on the government's watchlist ever since it released the controversial documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This documentary was criticised in India and later banned. Many links to the film were removed by Twitter and YouTube after a ban on the documentary. 

The Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) came into force by an act of Parliament and was enacted on December 29, 1999. The act empowers the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to pass regulations related to foreign exchange. It also enables the government to pass rules vis-a-vis foreign exchange in keeping with the country's foreign trade policy. 

Multinational companies across sectors were served show cause notices under Section 148A in the latter half of March. These notices relate to the assessment year 2019-20. India received $44.36 billion in foreign direct investment in FY19, the relevant financial year.

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