'Answer questions comprehensively: BBC's latest mail to employees amid IT survey

The survey is being carried out to investigate issues related to international taxation and transfer pricing of BBC subsidiary companies.

As the Income Tax department conducted survey operation at the Delhi and Mumbai offices of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Tuesday, the media organisation issued a fresh mail for the employees.

In the fresh mail, BBC has asked all its employees to cooperate with the tax officials and answer their questions comprehensively. ''All employees to cooperate in the ongoing surveys. All employees should support IT survey officials and answer their questions comprehensively. Employees can refrain from answering questions on personal income if asked so. They should answer other salary-related queries,'' the statement read.

The mail also mentions that only those working in the broadcast department need to come to the office, while others may continue to work from home. "Only the broadcast department to come to office, other employees to continue working from home," it read.

Meanwhile, the IT survey operation against the BBC India continued for the second day with the sleuths understood to be making copies of electronic and paper-based financial data of the organisation, officials said Wednesday.

The tax department had launched the action on Tuesday at the BBC's Delhi and Mumbai offices along with at least two linked premises as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion against the British broadcaster in India.

The tax officials are speaking to staffers of the BBC in the finance and some other departments even as other staffers and journalists were allowed to leave Tuesday night. Some computer peripherals and mobile phones were cloned as part of the operation, officials told news agency PTI.

The survey is being carried out to investigate issues related to international taxation and transfer pricing of BBC subsidiary companies, officials had said on Tuesday.

While there has been no official statement from the Income Tax department on the action, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has said it was cooperating with the authorities.

Last night, the BBC shared update of the ongoing investigations by the income tax officials at its office in Delhi and studio in Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex. "The Income Tax authorities remain at the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai. Many staff have now left the building but some have been asked to remain and are continuing to cooperate with the ongoing enquiries", the BBC tweet read.

''We are supporting our staff during this time and continue to hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible. Out output and journalism continues as normal and we are committed to serving our audiences in India'', the broadcaster added.

It is worth mentioning that the action, which sparked a sharp political debate with the ruling BJP accusing the BBC of 'venomous reporting' and the opposition questioning the timing of the move, came weeks after the broadcaster aired a two-part documentary,'India: The Modi Question', on the prime minister and the 2002 Gujarat riots.

For the unversed, 'India: The Modi Question' is a BBC documentary that explores the impact of Narendra Modi, the current Prime Minister of India, on the country's politics and society. The documentary, directed by Amol Palekar and produced by Rajesh Thakare, presents a nuanced and critical perspective on PM Modi's leadership and the challenges facing India under his government. The documentary begins with a brief history of Modi's rise to power, from his early years as a grassroots activist in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu nationalist organization, to his tenure as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, where he was accused of complicity in the 2002 anti-Muslim riots. The film then delves into PM Modi's leadership style, his economic policies, and his efforts to project India as a global power.