BBC Office Income Tax Survey: The Income Tax Department on Tuesday (February 14) conducted a survey of BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai as part of its probe into alleged tax evasion. This action of the Income Tax Department started at around 11 am and continued till late night.
The action comes a few weeks after the release of the BBC documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’. A heated political debate also started between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition parties regarding this survey. At the same time, BBC and British Government have also given their reaction on this action.
While the opposition condemned the move, the BJP accused the BBC of doing poisonous reporting against India. Officials said the survey was carried out to examine issues related to international taxation and transfer pricing of BBC subsidiaries. He alleged that the notice was given to the BBC, but it did not pay attention to it and did not follow it. He diverted a significant portion of his profits.
Survey of IT in BBC offices
He said the department is looking into documents related to the business operations of the London-headquartered public broadcaster and its Indian branch. Officials said the crackdown began suddenly at 11 am with Income Tax officials arriving at BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai. He said that BBC staff had been asked to keep their phones at a special place inside the premises. Some computers have been confiscated while some mobile phones are being cloned.
“No one is above the law of the land”
On this action, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said that no one can be above the law of the country and the Income Tax Department will share the details about the survey which it has done in the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai. He said that the Income Tax Department conducts surveys from time to time at such places where there are some irregularities. Anurag Thakur said that when the survey is over, a press note is issued or a press conference is organized to share the information. I am sure when the Income Tax Department completes its survey, it will share the details with you.
The British government is keeping an eye on the government
British government sources told PTI on Tuesday that Britain is closely monitoring the aftermath of income tax surveys at BBC offices in India. There has been no official statement from the British government regarding this survey, but British sources said that they are monitoring tax surveys conducted in BBC offices in India.
What did the BBC say on the survey?
The BBC said on this action that the officials of the Indian Income Tax Department are in its offices in New Delhi and Mumbai. He is fully cooperating with them. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) did not give much information regarding the Income Tax survey. A BBC spokesperson said in a statement that we are cooperating fully. We hope that this situation will be resolved as soon as possible.
Congress targets the center
Congress leaders lashed out at the Center regarding this survey. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted that the freedom of the press has been under attack from time to time in the Modi government. All this has been done to suppress critical voices. No democracy can survive if institutions are used to suppress the opposition and the media.
Mallikarjun Kharge said that people will resist this move of the government. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said that we are demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) inquiry into the Adani case and the government has gone after the BBC, wisdom contrary to the doomsday. Congress termed this action as dictatorship and undeclared emergency.
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