Enforcement Directorate Fines BBC India Rs 3.44 Crore
New Delhi: The India’s financial law enforcement and economic intelligence agency, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), has slapped a penalty of Rs 3.44 crore on the British broadcaster BBC on Friday. The central agency is reported to have found foreign exchange violations in the media house’s operation in India.
The ED had conducted raid in the BBC’s offices in Mumbai and Delhi in February 2023. The agency’s penalty comes almost two years after it registered a case against the BBC under the Foreign Exchange Management Act following the raid in 2023. Notably, the search in the media house’s officer came weeks after the BBC aired a documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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The Indian government had banned the airing of the documentary, calling it a hostile propaganda and anti-India product. The documentary ‘ “India: The Modi Question’ was about the 2002 Gujarat riot, purportedly implicating then chief minister of the state Narendra Modi’s complicity in the violence. The government had also ordered YouTube and X to take down the documentary’s links.
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However, the ED has also slapped a fine of Rs 1.14 crore each on three BBC India directors. Reacting to the reports, a BBC spokesperson said that they have not received any adjudication order from the Enforcement Directorate and would review any order it receives and consider next steps, reported Indian Express.
The ED alleged that the BBC India failed to reduce its foreign direct investment, violating Indian government regulations. “Directors Giles Antony Hunt, Indu Shekhar Sinha, and Paul Michael Gibbons have each been fined ₹1,14,82,950 for their roles in overseeing company operations during the period of contravention,” the Hindu reported, citing an ED source.
