The Income Tax survey operations at the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai continued for the third day on Thursday. The survey operations began on Tuesday at 11:30 AM as part of probe into alleged tax evasion in the business operations of the British broadcaster in India, reported PTI.
The action by the department comes weeks after the London-headquartered media organisation released a two-part documentary titled ‘India: The Modi Question’ which focuses on the alleged role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Tax officials said that the survey operation is being carried out to investigate issues related to international taxation and transfer pricing of BBC subsidiary companies. I-T Sleuths are seeking answers on financial transactions, the company structure and other details about the news company, and are copying data from electronic gadgets as part of their task of collecting the evidence.
Non-compliance likely trigger behind survey ops
Meanwhile, the trigger for the survey operation is likely “non-complaince”, two persons close to the development told The Indian Express.
“Tax cases involving transfer pricing rules and diversion of profits typically involve undertaking assessments by an assessing officer and issuance of a notice before undertaking any survey/search action. However, the reason for non-compliance is being cited for these surveys. Then, the assessing officer can opt for the legal provision to choose survey action against the company,” said a person aware about the development, who did not wish to be quoted.
Meanwhile, in an internal memo BBC World Service director Liliane Landor said that the organisation was fully cooperating and asked employees to answer “honestly and directly”, reported Reuters.
“It goes without saying that you should not delete or conceal any information on any of your devices,” Landor said in the note, seen by Reuters.
Political vendetta: Opposition parties
The survey operations have been hugely criticised by Opposition parties, who have termed it “political vendetta”.
However, the ruling BJP accused the BBC of unleashing “venomous reporting”, with Bhartiya Janata Party national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia describing the British broadcaster as the “most corrupt organisation in the world”.