BBC office survey: Tax surveys began on Tuesday around 11.20 am at the offices of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Delhi and Mumbai are still underway. 15-20 Income Tax officials have been present at the BBC offices for the last 19 hours. Income Tax Department sources said the searches are part of a tax evasion investigation. BBC staffers were asked to keep their phones at a particular spot inside the premises and cooperate, officials said. Besides, some computers were seized and mobile phones of some staff members were cloned, officials said.
Meanwhile, the British government said it is closely monitoring reports of tax surveys being conducted at BBC offices in India.
"The Income Tax Authorities are currently at the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai and we are fully cooperating. We hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible," the BBC said on Twitter.
The development has come after the BBC released a two-part documentary on PM Modi a couple of weeks ago on the 2002 Gujarat riots and India.
The searches are expected to continue through the night as some officials of the media company have been asked to stay to assist the probing teams, reports said.
“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,” a BBC spokesperson said in a statement.
“We are supporting our staff during this time and continue to hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible. Our output and journalism continues as normal and we are committed to serving our audiences in India,” the spokesperson said.
BJP and opposition lock horns
The IT department 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, comes weeks after the broadcaster aired a two-part documentary, "India: The Modi Question", on the prime minister and the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The survey is being carried out to investigate issues related to international taxation and transfer pricing of BBC subsidiary companies, officials said.
BBC had been served notices in the past but was "defiant and non-compliant" and had significantly diverted its profits, they alleged.
The department is looking at documents related to the business operations of the London-headquartered broadcaster and its Indian arms, they said.
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said no one is above the law and the Income Tax department will share details about the survey after it is over.
Opposition slams government
A host of opposition leaders, including those from the Congress, the Left parties, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Shiv Sena, were critical of the action, with a CPI(M) leader taking a dig at the BJP saying the same BBC was the last word on authenticity when the party was in opposition.
"It is clearly the government's credibility that is missing on this. A 2013 tweet and statement by PM Modiji is available where he is comparing the credibility of BBC with that of Doordarshan and saying that citizens of India believe more in the news published and telecast by BBC.
"So it's really strange that the question of 'colonial mindset' was not relevant at that time, and whether Modiji himself reflected some kind of colonial mindset by praising BBC and comparing it to Doordarshan," CPI(M) leader Nilotpal Basu said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "Time and again, there has been an assault on freedom of Press under the Modi government. This is done with brazen & unapologetic vengeance to strangulate remotely critical voices."
"No Democracy can survive if institutions are used to attack Opposition and Media. People will resist this," he said in a tweet.
"Here we are demanding JPC on the Adani issue but the government is after the BBC. Vinash Kale Viprit Buddhi," added his colleague Jairam Ramesh, using a Hindi idiom to attack the government.
"Since agencies doing these Valentine Day 'Surveys' how about @IncomeTaxIndia, @SEBI_India & @dir_ed conduct one on govt’s most valued sweetheart Mr. A?"- was Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra's response to the I-T move.
The CPI(M) hit out at the Centre over IT "raids" and questioned if India remains the "mother of democracy".
"First ban BBC documentaries. No JPC/enquiry into Adani exposures. Now IT raids on BBC offices! India: 'Mother of democracy'?" party general secretary Sitaram Yechury said in a tweet.
CPI MP Binoy Viswam described the I-T action as an attempt of a "frightened government" to "strangle" the voice of truth.
UK Govt distances itself from BBC documentary
“We recognise how this portrayal of the Indian government has played out in India. I made it clear that the BBC is independent in its output, that the UK regards India as an incredibly important international partner and that we will be investing heavily in that relationship in the coming decades,” UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said earlier this month.
Meanwhile, reacting to the I-T raids at BBC offices today, Dr Mukulika Banerjee, a leading author and academic at the London School of Economics (LSE) said, “Everyone's shocked and no one is fooled that today's tax survey, as it's being called, is a retaliation to the recent BBC documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’”.
“The BBC is an independent public broadcaster so if it puts out a documentary, it is not acting at the behest of the British government. In fact, BBC journalists routinely grill the British PM and all elected officials holding them accountable for their actions. The word ‘independent’ means just that,” she said.
BBC row: How US reacted
Reacting to a survey operation conducted by the Indian tax authorities at the BBC office in Delhi, the United States on Tuesday said it was aware of the development but was not in a position to offer its judgement.
In India, the action by Income Tax officials created a huge political upheaval. The Opposition termed the survey as an undeclared emergency. However, the government called it routine work of the IT department. Officials said the operation was part of a tax evasion investigation.
India slammed BBC for its 'propaganda' documentary
Slamming the BBC documentary which was released last month, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, "...the bias, lack of objectivity and continuing colonial mindset is blatantly visible."
Supreme Court on BBC documentary
The Supreme Court last week dismissed a plea seeking the imposition of a complete ban on the BBC in India in the wake of the controversial documentary, terming the petition "entirely misconceived" and "absolutely meritless". Another set of petitions challenging the government's decision to block the documentary will be heard in April next. The petitions were filed by journalist N Ram, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, and advocates Prashant Bhushan and ML Sharma. On January 21, the government issued directions to block multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the documentary.
The Editors Guild of India said it was "deeply concerned" about the Income Tax surveys and termed it a continuation of a "trend" of using government agencies to "intimidate and harass" media outlets critical of the ruling establishment. The Congress termed it as "intimidation tactics"and alleged that the action shows that the Narendra Modi government is scared of criticism.
The BJP, in its reaction, accused the BBC of unleashing "venomous" reporting against India and alleged that its propaganda and the Congress' agenda go together.
With inputs from PTI)
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