IT Dept officials conduct surveys at BBC India offices over allegations of tax irregularities

This comes days after a controversy erupted over a BBC documentary series criticizing the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was earlier the chief minister of Gujarat, during the 2002 Gujarat sectarian riots.

An NDTV report said citing sources that the officials seized documents, phones, and laptops of journalists were taken away.

The offices were sealed for the "survey" and employees were asked not to call anyone, said the report.

The IT survey was conducted in connection with alleged irregularities in international taxation and transfer pricing involving the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), the report stated.

The officials insisted that the IT Department only did a survey and not a search and the phones of the journalists will be returned.

According to the reports, the IT Department sources that some clarifications were needed and for that the official visited the BBC office and a survey was carried out.

The officers went there to check account books, Income Tax sources asserted, adding that the taxmen asked the BBC's finance department for details of balance sheets and accounts.

The two-part series, "India: The Modi Question", was taken down from public platforms last month.

The Central government used emergency powers under IT Rules to cut off the BBC series link shared by some YouTube and Twitter accounts.

The government slammed the documentary as "hostile propaganda and anti-India garbage".

The survey was conducted by a team of 15 officials from the Income Tax Department in the Delhi and Mumbai offices of BBC.

"The Income Tax Authorities are currently at the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai and we are fully cooperating. We hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible," said BBC on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the Opposition came down heavily over the IT survey at BBC offices.

Reacting to I-T officials reaching the BBC offices for a survey, Congress tweeted, "The government is after the BBC while here we demand a JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee) on the Adani matter."

Congress also posted a video of AICC General Secretary Jairam Ramesh replying to a question on I-T officials visiting the BBC's Delhi office.

Congress's Gaurav Gogoi too took to Twitter and wrote, "At the time India holds the Presidency of the G-20 nations, PM Modi continues to brazenly show India’s slide into authoritarianism and dictatorship. Raids on BBC, clean chit to Adani, tax cuts for rich, people’s homes being bull dozed, inequality and unemployment on the rise."

Dismissing the Congress criticisms, the BJP said "Congress should remember former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had banned BBC."

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said the reports of raids at the BBC offices are similar to an 'ideological emergency'.

Trinamool Congress's (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra also took to Twitter and wrote, "Reports of Income Tax raid at BBC's Delhi office. Wow, really? How unexpected."

Meanwhile, the Editors Guild of India in a statement said it was "deeply concerned about the Income Tax surveys at the offices of BBC India. As per news reports, BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai were being “surveyed” by teams from the IT department on Tuesday, February 14, 2023."