Top Editors' body in India says BBC tax survey continues trend to harass, intimidate media
The statement comes after a survey operation by Income Tax authorities at the BBC's offices in Delhi and Mumbai as part of a probe into potential tax fraud
The Editors Guild of India on Tuesday said it was "deeply concerned" about the Income Tax surveys at the offices of BBC India, and termed it as a continuation of a "trend" of using government agencies to "intimidate and harass" media outlets critical of the ruling establishment.
In a statement, the guild also demanded that great care and sensitivity be shown in all such investigations to not undermine the rights of journalists and media organisations, NDTV has reported.
The statement comes after a survey operation by Income Tax authorities at the BBC's offices in Delhi and Mumbai as part of a probe into potential tax fraud.
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It said the department similarly searched the offices of the media outlets NewsClick, Newslaundry, Dainik Bhaskar and Bharat Samachar in 2021 following their "critical coverage of the government establishment", reports Reuters.
It is understood that the action is being taken to look into potential international taxation and transfer pricing issues.
The broadcaster, however, claimed it was "fully cooperative" with the tax authorities.
"The survey by the I-T department is in continuation of a trend of using government agencies to intimidate and harass press organisations that are critical of government policies or the ruling establishment," the Guild said in a statement.
The Guild stated that two BBC programmes on the 2002 violence in Gujarat and the contemporary situation of minorities in India were released shortly after the IT survey was conducted.
The BBC was criticised by the Indian government for its inaccurate and biased reporting on the violence in Gujarat as a result of the documentaries, and the administration tried to restrict online access to and screening of the films in India, the Editors Guild said.
"In each case, the raids and surveys were against the backdrop of critical coverage of the government establishment by the news organisations," the Guild said.
"This is a trend that undermines constitutional democracy," it added.
The Guild underlined its earlier demand that governments guarantee that such investigations be carried out in accordance with the established procedures and that they don't turn into tools of intimidation against independent media.
