Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Indian tax officers search BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai for second day

The BBC has stood by its reporting for the documentary and said it was cooperating with Indian tax officials.

Indian tax officers search BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai for second day

India is looking into the BBC's tax structure, the British news organisation said in an internal memo on Wednesday (15), as officials searched its premises in New Delhi and Mumbai for a second day, weeks after India banned a BBC documentary as propaganda.

A senior Indian government official said the income tax survey, which began on Tuesday (14), was not vindictive or "done out of a sense of pique".


The BBC documentary focused on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership as chief minister of the western state of Gujarat during riots in 2002 in which at least 1,000 people were killed, most of them Muslims, though activists put the toll at more than twice that number.

The government last month dismissed the documentary, India: The Modi Question, as propaganda and blocked its streaming and sharing on social media. The foreign ministry said last month the documentary was meant to push a "discredited narrative", was biased, lacked objectivity and showed a "continuing colonial mindset".

The BBC has stood by its reporting for the documentary and said it was cooperating with Indian tax officials.

The BBC was served tax notices in the past but the organisation had not provided a convincing response to tax authorities, Kanchan Gupta, Senior Adviser at the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, told Times Now news channel.

"The Income Tax Department is conducting a survey of the BBC’s tax status and affairs in India. We understand officers from the department may wish to speak to members of staff about the BBC in India," Liliane Landor, director of the BBC World Service, said in the note sent to staff and reviewed by Reuters on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the BBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

"Questions about the BBC’s structure, activities, organisation, and operations in India are within the remit of the investigation and should be answered," Landor said in the note.

India's Income Tax Department has so far declined to comment on the reason for the search.

(Reuters)

More For You

F-35B jet

The UK has agreed to move the aircraft to the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the airport.

Indian Air Force

F-35B jet still stranded in Kerala, UK sends engineers for repair

UK AVIATION engineers are arriving in Thiruvananthapuram to carry out repairs on an F-35B Lightning jet belonging to the Royal Navy, which has remained grounded after an emergency landing 12 days ago.

The jet is part of the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group of the UK's Royal Navy. It made the emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 14. The aircraft, valued at over USD 110 million, is among the most advanced fighter jets in the world.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ahmedabad air crash
Relatives carry the coffin of a victim, who was killed in the Air India Flight 171 crash, during a funeral ceremony in Ahmedabad on June 15, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Ahmedabad crash: Grief, denial and trauma haunt families

TWO weeks after the crash of Air India flight AI-171 in Ahmedabad, families of victims are grappling with grief and trauma. Psychiatrists are now working closely with many who continue to oscillate between denial and despair.

The crash occurred on June 12, when the London-bound flight hit the BJ Medical College complex shortly after takeoff, killing 241 people on board and 29 on the ground. Only one passenger survived.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer apologises for 'island of strangers' immigration speech

Prime minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at The British Chambers of Commerce Global Annual Conference in London on June 26, 2025. (Photo by EDDIE MULHOLLAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Starmer apologises for 'island of strangers' immigration speech

PRIME MINISTER Sir Keir Starmer has admitted he was wrong to warn that Britain could become an "island of strangers" due to high immigration, saying he "deeply" regrets the controversial phrase.

Speaking to The Observer, Sir Keir said he would not have used those words if he had known they would be seen as echoing the language of Enoch Powell's notorious 1968 "rivers of blood" speech.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sir Sajid Javid leads commission 'tackling social divisions'

Sir Sajid Javid (Photo by Tom Nicholson-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Sir Sajid Javid leads commission 'tackling social divisions'

A cross-party group has been formed to tackle the deep divisions that sparked last summer's riots across England. The new commission will be led by former Tory minister Sir Sajid Javid and ex-Labour MP Jon Cruddas.

The Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion has backing from both prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. It brings together 19 experts from different political parties and walks of life.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Masum

Masum was seen on CCTV trying to steer the pram away and, when she refused to go with him, stabbed her multiple times before walking away and boarding a bus. (Photo: West Yorkshire Police)

West Yorkshire Police

Habibur Masum convicted of murdering estranged wife in front of baby

A MAN who stabbed his estranged wife to death in Bradford in front of their baby has been convicted of murder.

Habibur Masum, 26, attacked 27-year-old Kulsuma Akter in broad daylight on April 6, 2024, stabbing her more than 25 times while she pushed their seven-month-old son in a pram. The baby was not harmed.

Keep ReadingShow less