Opposition parties slam govt over IT survey
AMN / WEB DESK
The BBC News said on Tuesday said that it was fully cooperating with the Income Tax department, which is conducting a survey, at its offices in New Delhi and Mumbai.
BBC offices in India have been searched as part of an investigation by income tax authorities
The searches in New Delhi and Mumbai come weeks after the broadcaster aired a documentary in the UK critical of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The BBC said that it was “fully co-operating” with authorities.
“The Income Tax Authorities are currently at the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai and we are fully cooperating,” the British broadcaster said on Twitter. “We hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible,” it added.
— BBC News Press Team (@BBCNewsPR) February 14, 2023
The Income Tax Department is conducting a survey operation at the BBC’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion.
The visit from tax officials comes less than a month after the BBC released a two-part documentary, India: The Modi Question, which looked at the 2002 Gujarat riots, and was dismissed as the Indian government as “propaganda”.
As news spread, onlookers and media crews were seen outside the BBC office at central Delhi’s Kasturba Gandhi Marg. In Mumbai, the office is in Santa Cruz.
As part of a survey, the I-T Department only covers the business premises of a company and does not raid residences and other locations of its promoters or directors.
‘Don’t spew venom’: BJP to BBC
BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said the BBC should not “spew venom” while operating in India.
“The BBC indulges in anti-India propaganda,” Bhatia told reporters. “India is a country which gives an opportunity to every organisation… as long as you don’t spew venom.”
Bhatia also rejected the Congress’s criticism of the I-T action and said the government agency should be allowed to do its job.
Hitting out at the London-headquartered public broadcaster, he said BBC is the “most corrupt” organisation in the world, adding that the Congress should remember that the then prime minister Indira Gandhi had also banned the broadcaster.
Opposition condemn ‘intimidation tactics’
Opposition parties Tuesday hit out at the government after the Income Tax Department conducted surveys on the premises of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Delhi and Mumbai in relation to alleged tax evasion and irregularities pertaining to international tax and TDS transactions.
The Congress termed as “intimidation tactics” the survey operation at the BBC offices and alleged that the action shows that the Narendra Modi government is scared of criticism.Opposition parties Tuesday hit out at the government after the Income Tax Department conducted surveys on the premises of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Delhi and Mumbai in relation to alleged tax evasion and irregularities pertaining to international tax and TDS transactions.The Congress termed as “intimidation tactics” the survey operation at the BBC offices and alleged that the action shows that the Narendra Modi government is scared of criticism.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that while the party is demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe on the Gautam Adani issue, the “government is after the BBC”.
He also used a Hindi idiom to attack the government, saying “Vinash Kale, Vipreet Buddhi” (When doom approaches, a person’s intellect works against his interest).
Reacting to the development, Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal said the IT raid at BBC’s offices “reeks of desperation and shows that the Modi government is scared of criticism”.
The CPM and the BSP too slammed the government. “The IT, ED and the CBI have not reached Adani’s office but a team of the IT department is searching the office of the BBC. It is an attack on whatever is left of the press freedom in India. India ranks 150th in the world press freedom. It is clear that India will now slip further,” BSP MP Kunwar Danish Ali said.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has come out against the Income Tax Department’s inspection at the British Broadcasting Corporation’s(BBC’s) Delhi and Mumbai offices.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday Pinarayi Vijayan said Income Tax Department’s inspection at the BBC’s Delhi and Mumbai offices will be embarrassing to the country in front of the international community.
He said that the intent of the Income Tax Department’s actions is highly questionable and the international media have come out against this stating that that this is an attack on media freedom.
Stating that the BJP dispensation was outraged by the BBC documentary on the Gujarat genocide, Vijayan said it is in this context that the Income Tax Department has turned against the BBC. “It is in this context that the Income Tax Department has turned to the BBC. Criticism has been raised in the international media that this is an attack on media freedom, he wrote on Facebook.
The Editors Guild of India – said it was “deeply concerned” about the searches.
They are a “continuation of a trend of using government agencies to intimidate and harass press organisations that are critical of government policies or the ruling establishment”, it said.
Amnesty International India’s Board accused authorities of “trying to harass and intimidate the BBC over its critical coverage of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party”.
It said the “overbroad powers of the Income Tax Department are repeatedly being weaponised to silence dissent”.