NEW DELHI — India launched into an revenue tax survey of BBC workplaces after the British news group failed to supply a convincing response to earlier tax notices, a authorities official stated on Wednesday, weeks after India blocked a BBC documentary as propaganda.
Tax officers searched BBC premises in New Delhi and Mumbai for a second day on Wednesday, remaining within the buildings late into the night. The motion drew criticism from distinguished media our bodies inside India.
The documentary centered on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s management as chief minister of the western state of Gujarat throughout riots in 2002 during which no less than 1,000 individuals had been killed, most of them Muslims. Activists put the toll at greater than twice that quantity.
The authorities final month dismissed the documentary, “India: The Modi Question,” as propaganda and blocked its streaming and sharing on social media.
The overseas ministry stated final month the documentary was meant to push a “discredited narrative,” was biased, lacked objectivity and confirmed a “continuing colonial mindset.”
The BBC has stood by its reporting for the documentary and stated it was cooperating with Indian tax officers.
Kanchan Gupta, senior adviser on the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, stated the BBC was served tax notices prior to now however the group had not offered a “convincing response” to tax authorities.
The tax survey pertains to switch pricing guidelines and alleged diversion of earnings. It was neither “vindictive” nor “done out of a sense of pique,” he advised Times Now news channel.
In an inner memo circulated earlier than Gupta’s feedback, BBC World Service director Liliane Landor stated the Income Tax Department was conducting a survey of the group’s “tax status and affairs in India,” with which the BBC was cooperating absolutely.
“If you are asked to meet with the officers you should answer their questions honestly and directly.
“Questions concerning the BBC’s construction, actions, group, and operations in India are throughout the remit of the investigation and needs to be answered,” Landor said in the note, seen by Reuters.
“It goes with out saying that you shouldn’t delete or conceal any info on any of your units.”
A spokesperson for the BBC did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
India’s Income Tax Department has so far declined to comment on the reason for the search.
Media organizations inside India criticized the search.
“We demand that this intimidation be stopped and journalists are left to do their jobs with out worry or favor,” the Mumbai Press Club said in a statement.
An editorial in the Indian Express newspaper said the government’s action “smacks of bullying.”
India ranks low on the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index, falling eight locations final yr to No. 150. The authorities has stated it doesn’t agree with conclusions drawn by the index. — Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
