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BBC tax 'survey': Director-General asks scribes to report without fear

Tim Davie thanks staff and says BBC doesn't have an agenda

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The Director-General of BBC Tim Davie asked the organization's staff in India to report without fear and nothing was more important than reporting impartially.

Tim Davie, in a recent email sent to staff in India, said, “Nothing is more important than our ability to report without fear or favour," BBC reported. He added, "Our duty to our audiences around the world is to pursue the facts through independent and impartial journalism, and to produce and distribute the very best creative content. We won't be put off from that task.”

Davie said BBC doesn't have an agenda and they are driven by purpose. Davie said their first purpose was to provide impartial news and information to the public. 

The income tax department conducted 'surveys' at the New Delhi and Mumbai offices of the broadcaster and accused them of tax irregularities. The searches came weeks after a massive controversy over BBC's documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the riots in Gujarat that broke out in 2002. The two-part series that was aired by BBC--"India: The Modi Question" was taken down from public platforms last month.

“The survey revealed that despite substantial consumption of content in various Indian languages (apart from English), the income/profits shown by various group entities are not commensurate with the scale of operations in India. During the course of the survey, the department gathered several evidences pertaining to the operation of the organization which indicate that tax has not been paid on certain remittances which have not been disclosed as income in India by the foreign entities of the group,” the income tax department accused. 

The survey operation has resulted in unearthing of crucial evidence by way of statements of employees, digital evidence and documents which will be further examined in due course, the department said.

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