The Income Tax department survey operation in the Delhi and Mumbai offices of British broadcaster BBC continued for the second day on Wednesday. The survey operations began on Tuesday at 11:30 AM as part of a probe into alleged tax evasion, “deliberate non-compliance with the transfer pricing rules” and its “vast diversion of profits” against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), reported The Indian Express.
Officials said that the I-T surveys focus is to look into the “manipulation of prices for unauthorised benefits, including tax advantages”.
Action after BBC documentary
The action comes weeks after the release of a two-part documentary by BBC titled “India: The Modi Question”, which focuses on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots. Following the release of the documentary, the Centre used its emergency powers under the Information technology Rules, 2021, and directed YouTube and Twitter to remove links sharing snippets from the documentary.
Speaking about the survey operation, tax officials had said that some computer peripherals and mobile phones were cloned as part of the operation, reported PTI.
Meanwhile, the BBC has in an official statement said it was cooperating with the authorities. “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,” a BBC News Press Team said in a official Twitter post at 10:26 pm on Tuesday.
‘Undeclared emergency’, says Congress
Following the survey operation, Opposition parties came down heavily on the Centre, with the Congress calling it an “undeclared emergency”. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted, “Time and again, there has been an assault on freedom of Press under Modi Govt. This is done with brazen & unapologetic vengeance to strangulate remotely critical voices. No Democracy can survive if institutions are used to attack Opposition & Media. People WILL resist this.”
Samajwadi described the I-T survey operation as “ideological emergency”, while Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti said that the union government is “brazenly hounding those who speak the truth”.
Meanwhile, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called the BBC “most corrupt” organisation in the world. BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia accused the British broadcaster of unleashing “venomous” reporting against India, which has a “tainted and black history of working with malice against India”.