Sources say the taxmen will today focus on the accounts department
New Delhi:
Searches at the BBC’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai continued all night, spilling over to the second day as Income Tax officials investigated the UK national broadcaster, weeks after it aired a controversial documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the deadly Gujarat riots in 2002.
The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), in an email to employees, urged all but its broadcast department to work from home. “Employees can refrain from answering questions on personal income if asked so. They should answer other salary-related queries,” said the broadcaster, advising its staff to cooperate with the officials and “answer questions comprehensively”.
As the opposition parties and press bodies condemned the searches, the US said it is aware of the survey but is “not in a position to offer judgement”.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said: “We support the importance of free press around the world. We continue to highlight the importance of freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief as human rights that contribute to strengthening democracies around the world. It has strengthened this democracy here in this country. It has strengthened India’s democracy.”
There has been no official response from the UK.
Tax officials who started the “survey” on Tuesday morning will today focus on accounts and question the senior management of the BBC, sources said.
Tax authorities are investigating allegations of unauthorized tax benefits, tax evasion, “significant” diversion of profits and non-compliance of rules by the BBC, said the sources. The BBC had been served notices in the past but had been “defiant and non-compliant”, they claimed.
On Tuesday, visuals showed some employees arguing with the officials, accusing them of barging in without a warrant.
The officials used the keyword “tax” to search for information on the desktops after asking employees to log in, a BBC journalist told NDTV.
Several opposition parties accused the government of targeting the BBC for a two-part series that was critical of PM Modi over the riots that swept Gujarat in 2002, when he was Chief Minister. The Editors’ Guild of India said the raids were part of a wider “trend of using government agencies to intimidate or harass press organisations that are critical of government policies”.
The BBC series, “India: The Modi Question”, was taken down from public platforms last month. The Centre used emergency powers under IT Rules to block YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the documentary. The government slammed the documentary as “hostile propaganda and anti-India garbage”.
Protesting what they called censorship, opposition leaders and students organised public screenings of the documentary, which led to many campus clashes.
As the searches took place, the ruling BJP slammed the BBC for what it called “venomous, shallow and agenda-driven reporting” and said the Income Tax department should be allowed to do its job. “If they have not done anything illegal, then what’s the worry?” said BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia. He also mocked the BBC as “Bhrasht, Bakwas Corporation (Corrupt, nonsensical corporation)
Last week, the Supreme Court rejected a request for a complete ban on BBC in India over the documentary, calling the petition “entirely misconceived”.