Taxmen Conduct Survey at BBC's Delhi, Mumbai Offices; UK Govt 'Closely Monitoring' | 10 Points

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Union Minister Anurag Thakur said Income Tax department conducts surveys from time to time where "irregularities are found"

The Income Tax department officials on Tuesday conducted a “survey” at the British Broadcasting Corporation offices in Delhi and Mumbai for over 10 hours in view of the BBC’s “deliberate non-compliance with the Transfer Pricing Rules and its vast diversion of profits”.

As soon as the action began, a political slugfest erupted in which the ruling BJP accused the British public broadcaster of “venomous reporting” and the Opposition slammed the move.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur was quoted as saying by news agency ANI that I-T department conducts surveys from time to time where “irregularities are found”. “When survey is completed, they give information. When this survey of IT will be completed, we will give you all that information in detail,” he said.

An update on the situation in India. pic.twitter.com/FYVFwdQWxE— BBC News Press Team (@BBCNewsPR) February 14, 2023

Notably, it comes weeks after the BBC aired a two-part documentary, “India: The Modi Question”.

Have a look at 10 key developments in the BBC case:

The action began at around 12 pm with I-T department officials reaching the BBC offices in Delhi’s Kasturba Gandhi Marg and in Mumbai’s upscale Santa Cruz area. BBC staffers were asked to keep their mobile phones at a particular spot inside the premises and cooperate.
Issuing a statement, the BBC said it is fully cooperating with tax authorities. “The Income Tax authorities are currently at the offices in New Delhi and Mumbai and we are fully cooperating. We hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible,” the press office of the BBC said on Twitter.
Reacting to the “survey”, the ruling BJP accused the BBC of unleashing “venomous” reporting against India. Party’s national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia rejected the Congress’ criticism of the I-T action and said the government agency should be allowed to do its job. Terming the BBC the “most corrupt” organisation in the world, he said that the Congress should remember that then prime minister Indira Gandhi had also banned the broadcaster.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh used a Hindi idiom to attack the government, saying “Vinash Kale, Vipreet Buddhi” (When doom approaches, a person’s intellect works against his interest). He said, “Here we are demanding JPC on the Adani issue but the government is after the BBC. Vinash Kale Viprit Buddhi.”
The Editors Guild of India (EGI) said it was “deeply concerned” about the Income Tax surveys and termed it continuation of a trend of using government agencies to intimidate and harass media outlets critical of the ruling establishment. In a statement, it said great care and sensitivity should be shown in all such investigations so as to not undermine the rights of journalists and media organisations.
British government sources said today that the UK is “closely monitoring” the situation. However, there has been no official statement from the UK government related to it yet.
Issuing a statement, the Income Tax department said, “Today, the Income authorities conducted a survey on the BBC premises in Delhi, in view of the BBC’s deliberate non-compliance with the Transfer Pricing Rules and its vast diversion of profits. It is pertinent to note that the above exercise conducted by the tax authorities, is called “survey” not search/raid as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act. Such surveys are routinely conducted and are not to be confused to be in the nature of a search/raid.”
The I-T department added, “In the case of the BBC, there has been persistent non-compliance with the abovementioned rules for years. As a result of the same, several notices have been issued to the BBC. However, the BBC has been continuously defiant and non-compliant and has been significantly diverted their profits. The key focus of these surveys is to look into manipulation of prices for unauthorised benefits, including tax advantages. These surveys have been undertaken due to BBC’s persistent non-compliance of the norms, making it a repeat offender.”
The Supreme Court last week dismissed a plea seeking to impose a complete ban on the BBC in India in the wake of the controversial documentary, terming the petition “entirely misconceived” and “absolutely meritless”.
On January 21, the government issued directions to block multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the documentary.

(with inputs from PTI)

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