I-T survey on BBC: Broadcaster has taken money from China, claims BJP’s Mahesh Jethmalani
Hours after the Income Tax department surveyed BBC, Rajya Sabha MP and senior lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani on Tuesday claimed that the UK’s public broadcaster has taken money from China and that it should be investigated. He said BBC has been taking money from China profusely and in large sums. BBC, he said, has invested pension funds of their employees in companies that are owned by the Chinese state.
The BJP leader’s remarks come just hours after the Income Tax Department surveyed the broadcaster’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai. The opposition was quick to attack the Centre and linked it to BBC’s controversial documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “IT raids on BBC after documentary on Narendra Modi,” the Congress tweeted.
However, Jethmalani said it should not be seen as a vendetta as BBC has taken money from China and it should be investigated. Last month, the senior lawyer alleged that the BBC needed money “desperately” and was taking it from Chinese-linked Huawei. “Why is BBC so anti-India? Because it needs money desperately enough to take it from Chinese state-linked Huawei and pursue the latter’s agenda (BBC a fellow traveller, Comrade Jairam?)It’s a simple cash-for-propaganda deal. BBC is up for sale,” he said.
The Rajya Sabha MP also said that there was a Chinese hand behind BBC’s documentary on PM Modi. “I certainly believe there is a Chinese hand behind it… there has been anti-India propaganda by BBC for a long time,” he said while speaking to India Today.
Earlier this month, Jethmalani said it was not just Huawei that paid BBC but there were at least 18 other Chinese clients that were paying to UK’s public broadcaster. “BBC apologists in India demand proof that Huawei payments to BBC were linked to the documentary. It’s not just Huawei that pays BBC but at least 18 other Chinese clients,” he tweeted on February 2.
He also shared a story published in a UK magazine – The Spectator – in August last year, which alleged that the BBC was taking money from Huawei.
Earlier today, the Income Tax department said that it conducted a survey on the BBC premises in Delhi, in view of the broadcaster’s “deliberate non-compliance with the Transfer Pricing Rules and its vast diversion of profits”. The department said it was a routine survey, not raids as was reported.
“In the case of the BBC, there has been persistent non-compliance with the abovementioned rules for years. As a result of the same, several notices have been issued to the BBC. However, the BBC has been continuously defiant and non-compliant and has significantly diverted their profits,” it said.
