November 21, 2024

I-T Department Conducts Survey At BBC Offices: Vendetta?

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2023-02-15 07:53:00

About the Author

The India Commentary view

View all posts by this Author

Officials of the Income Tax department 'visited' the offices of BBC in India in Delhi and Mumbai in what the government has called a 'survey' to find out whether the media entity has illegally siphoned off profits from its Indian operations. I-T officials have questioned staffers and have seized mobile phones and laptops and other documents. Coming close on the heels of BBC News airing the two-part documentary India: The Modi Question, the action has been severely criticized by the opposition in India and media organization in India and abroad. The action also comes just a couple of days after a stinging editorial titled 'India's Proud Tradition Of A Free Press Is At Risk' in The New York Times where the newspaper criticized the Modi government of increasingly clamping down on journalists and media outlets critical of its policies and actions and warned that it will have serious implications for free press and democracy in India.

It should be no one's case that if the BBC has flouted transfer pricing norms and has diverted profits from its Indian operations it should not be taken to task. But apart from the timing of the I-T survey, the fact that the Modi government has a very thin skin when it comes to criticism has laid it open to charges of vendetta. The BBC documentary had, relying on a secret report of the UK government and its interviews with several people, charged that Mr Modi (then the chief minister of Gujarat) and his administration did little to stop the riots. The I-T action against BBC is being seen as another attempt by the government to browbeat the media. It is regrettable that BJP tries to rubbish everything said against the government as a conspiracy against the nation. The government must also resist the temptation of weaponizing laws to move against critics.