New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has imposed a fine of Rs 3.44 crore on BBC India for violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). The ED has also directed three directors of BBC India to pay a fine of Rs 1.14 crore each. The action is in a case registered in 2023.
The ED said that the fine was imposed for violating the 26 percent foreign funding limit for digital media. The ED also announced that BBC India will be fined Rs 5,000 per day from October 15, 2021. Directors Indusekhar Sinha, Paul Michael Gibbons and Giles Anthony Hunt were fined Rs 1,14,82,950.
They were fined for being the heads of the company during the period of violation. The Income Tax Department had raided various offices of the BBC after it aired the documentary India The Modi Question, which alleged Narendra Modi’s role in the Gujarat riots.
The raids were conducted at the Delhi and Mumbai offices of BBC India in February 2023. The ED registered a case based on the facts found in this raid.
