New Delhi: In connection with potential tax evasion and anomalies, the Income Tax Department conducted a survey at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) locations in Delhi and Mumbai on Tuesday, according to officials. The BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai were undergoing surveys, not raids, according to a senior member of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). PM Modi who was the chief minister of Gujarat at the time and his government have been accused of enabling the violence that resulted in the deaths of nearly 1,000 people. Although the documentary was not aired in India, Modi’s government and its supporters have reacted to it with fury, accusing the BBC of spreading “hostile propaganda and anti-India garbage” while engaging in a “colonial mindset.
Last week, the Supreme Court of India dismissed a plea seeking a “complete ban” on the documentary. Students at several college campuses across the country have also been targeted by law enforcement for organizing screenings of the documentary. The government has leveraged emergency powers to ban clips of the documentary from being shared online. In 2013, the prime minister was cleared by Indian courts on charges that he had enabled or supported the riots.
BBC Survey Operations: Important Points
1. A Few week's back British broadcaster released a documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots titled “India: The Modi Question”.
2. On January 20, the Central government ordered YouTube and Twitter to take down links sharing the documentary, with officials saying it was found to be “undermining the sovereignty and integrity of India” and had “the potential to adversely impact” the country’s “friendly relations with foreign states” and “public order within the country”.
3. A team of 15 officials from the tax department arrived at the BBC offices near Connaught Place — the British-era main commercial hub in New Delhi at around 11.30am.
4. The office complex was closed and no one was allowed to enter or leave the 18-storey office complex.
5. The phones of employees were confiscated by officials who reportedly were checking documents related to business operations and accounts.
6. Soon after the IT Raid, BJP came down heavily on the British broadcaster, calling it "the most corrupt organisation in the world". The ruling party also attacked Congress, saying it supports 'anti-India' narratives.
7. In a statement, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said, “The gloves are off and there is a price one pays for fighting for truth.”
8. During surveys, I-T officials look into documents such as books of accounts, bank accounts, cash, stock, and non-valuable documents.
