Shumeet Banerji quits BBC board

TOI Correspondent from London: BBC board non-executive director Shumeet Banerji on Friday resigned from his post in the wake of the doctored Trump scandal, saying there are governance issues at the top of the corporation.

He also said in his letter that he was “not consulted” about the events leading up to the departures of director-general Tim Davie and BBC News chief executive and board member Deborah Turness.

Their resignations were sparked by a leaked internal memo by Michael Prescott, former editorial adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards (EGS) committee, which revealed that a “Panorama” programme, aired a week before the US elections, spliced together two unrelated sentences from a Jan 6, 2021 speech making out US President Donald Trump incited his supporters to riot at the US Capitol building.

The board is responsible for ensuring the BBC fulfils its public purposes as set out in the Royal Charter, which includes providing impartial news. Non-executive directors play a key role in ensuring the BBC maintains the highest standards of corporate governance. Banerji, who was appointed in Jan 2022, is the founder of Condorcet LP, an advisory and investment firm.

He is also an independent director of Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, of Jio Platforms Ltd, and of Jio’s parent Reliance Industries Ltd. He has an MBA from Delhi University.