BBC India sued for ‘violation of foreign exchange rules’

India's enforcement directorate (ED) today filed a case against BBC India for alleged violation of foreign exchange rules, the directorate's officials said.

The case was registered under stringent Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), reports our New Delhi correspondent.

The enforcement directorate has also called for documents and recordings of statements of some BBC India executives under the FEMA, said the ED officials.

The probe is essentially looking at alleged foreign direct investment (FDI) violations by the company, they said.

In February this year, the BBC offices in Mumbai and New Delhi were searched by Indian income tax authorities as part of an investigation into the broadcaster's accounts.

The raids came after BBC released the documentary "The Modi Question," which was critical of the role of Narendra Modi who was Gujarat's chief minister during 2002 riots.

After the searches, the income tax authorities said they uncovered alleged irregularities in BBC's accounting books. The findings "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."