Amid the Income Tax surveys in Mumbai and Delhi offices of BBC, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday slammed the Income Tax department’s action and asked “in what definition of democracy does raiding a media office fit in?”.
Without naming the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Thackeray, who leads a faction of the Shiv Sena, said a brutal tendency is trying to rear its head in the country. He further warned that if “we do not come together then it will swallow up the whole country”.
“In what definition of democracy does raiding a media office fit in? This means you (the government) can do whatever you want, but we are not supposed to raise our voice. If voice is raised, the government will crush you,” he said, as quoted by PTI.
His comments come as Income Tax department conducted surveys on the premises of BBC in Delhi and Mumbai on Tuesday in relation to alleged tax evasion and irregularities pertaining to international tax and TDS transactions.
The survey is conducted under Section 133A of the Income Tax Act, which empowers officials to enter any premises of the assessee, such as residences, shops, factories or offices for a search and seizure operation. However, the surveys can only be on business premises, and start during normal business hours.
The action comes weeks after the London-headquartered public broadcaster released a two-part documentary titled “India: The Modi Question”. The documentary focuses on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s and the then BJP government’s response to the 2002 Gujarat riots.