New Delhi — Dozens of government tax officers visited the BBC’s offices in India for a second straight day on Wednesday as part of a “survey” performed in relation to the British broadcaster’s alleged tax cheating. Tuesday, officials reportedly took laptops and mobile phones belonging to a number of journalists and employees from BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai.
The Income Tax Department of India stated that the “survey” was being conducted “in view of the BBC’s deliberate non-compliance with the Transfer Pricing Rules and its vast diversion of profits,” labeling the broadcaster a “repeat offender.”
The BBC stated that it was “fully co-operating” with tax authorities.
The broadcaster stated 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 continue as usual, and we are dedicated to servicing our Indian audience.
The BBC instructed its personnel in India, with the exception of those in the broadcast department, to work from home for the time being. The email stated that while staff were not required to disclose their personal income, “they should answer other salary-related queries” and “answer questions comprehensively.”
The searches, which tax officials believed should be referred to as “surveys” and not raids or searches for technical reasons, occur just weeks after the BBC broadcast a program critical of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the United Kingdom.
The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks at ‘India Energy Week 2023′ on February 6, 2023 in Bengaluru, India. Aijaz Rahi/AP
“India: The Modi Question,” investigates the premier’s role in 2002’s deadly religious riots in Gujarat, while he was chief government of the western Indian state. During the riots, more than a thousand individuals, predominantly Muslims, were slain. Modi was accused of participation in the violence, but Indian courts cleared him of all charges in 2013.
The Indian government prohibited the documentary’s broadcast in the country last month, deeming it “a propaganda piece designed to push a particular discredited narrative.”
The BBC stated that its documentary was “rigorously researched” and that it stands by all of the supplied facts.
Security officers block the main entrance of Jamia Millia Islamia university in New Delhi, India, on January 25, 2023, amid tensions over a student group’s plan to present a forbidden video that analyzes the role of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in anti-Muslim riots in 2002. AP/Manish Swarup
The opposition Congress party in India criticized the tax department’s “survey” of the BBC’s offices in India as “intimidation tactics.”
“The IT raid at BBC’s offices reeks of desperation and shows that the Modi government is scared of criticism,” tweeted Congress leader K.C. Venugopal.
The IT raid at BBC stinks of desperation and demonstrates that the Modi administration is afraid of criticism.
These bullying techniques are condemned in the strongest terms. This undemocratic and authoritarian mindset cannot continue.
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) February 14, 2023
While tax authorities described the searches as “routine,” Modi’s ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) criticized the BBC for “spewing venom against India” and stated that the Income Tax Service should be permitted to do its job.
Gaurav Bhatia, a BJP spokesperson, said during a news conference as searches were being conducted, “India’s constitution gives the BBC a right to practice unbiased journalism, but I wish to give examples of what kind of an agenda is practiced in the garb of journalism,”
What sort of reporting is it that the BBC referred to a Kashmiri terrorist leader as a charismatic young militant? Bhatia inquired, providing an illustration of what his party considers to be the BBC’s “anti-India agenda.”
He stated that the BBC had “unleashed the most venomous attack against our country.”
State Department spokesman Ned Price stated on Tuesday that the U.S. government was aware of the “search of the BBC offices in Delhi by Indian tax authorities,” but directed for further information to the Indian government.
“Broadly… we support the importance of free press around the world,” Price continued. We continue to emphasize the significance of freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief as human rights that build democracies everywhere.
In a statement, the Editors Guild of India, a press freedom organization, condemned the tax authorities’ “survey” as “continuation of a trend of using government agencies to intimidate and harass press organizations that are critical of government policies or the ruling establishment.”
The Supreme Court of India denied a petition by a right-wing political group to ban the BBC in the nation over the Modi documentary last week. The court stated that the petition was “entirely misconceived and has no merit.”
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