India`s Income Tax Department has claimed it has exposed irregularities withinside the accounting books of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) following a three-day survey broadly criticised as retribution for an unflattering documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. n allegations that come weeks after the British public broadcaster aired the -element collection on PM Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots, the Income Tax Department stated that earnings and income disclosed via way of means of the BBC’s numerous devices had been “now no longer commensurate with the dimensions of operations in India”.
Without naming the BBC, it stated the branch had gathered “numerous evidences (sic)” and turned into nonetheless withinside the procedure of going thru statements of employees, virtual documents and files of a “distinguished global media employer”. Its findings “suggest that tax has now no longer been paid on sure remittances that have now no longer been disclosed as earnings in India via way of means of the overseas entities of the institution”, the tax branch claimed.
“The survey has additionally thrown up numerous discrepancies and inconsistencies with reference to switch pricing documentation,” it alleged, relating to the practises while one arm of a multinational organization can pay some other for goods, offerings or highbrow property. The branch additionally accused BBC team of workers of employing “dilatory tactics” or efforts to put off an investigation.
“Despite such stance of the institution, the survey operation turned into performed in a way for you to facilitate persisted everyday media/channel activity,” the tax branch stated in a statement. The BBC is but to reply to the charges. Last evening, after the 60-hour survey at its places of work in Delhi and Mumbai ended, the employer stated it’s going to retain to cooperate with the authorities.
It stated the concern for it now turned into to help its team of workers, lots of whom have needed to live in a single day withinside the places of work at some point of the enquiries, and that it’s going to retain to file without “worry or favour”. The BBC documentary did now no longer air in India however provoked a livid reaction from the authorities, which disregarded its contents as “antagonistic propaganda”.
Authorities used records generation legal guidelines to prohibit the sharing of hyperlinks to the programme to prevent its unfold on social media. Calling the BBC the “maximum corrupt” organization, Gaurav Bhatia, a BJP spokesman, stated the survey turned into lawful and the timing had not anything to do with the documentary’s broadcast.
“If you’ve got got been following the regulation of the country, when you have not anything to hide, why be frightened of an movement this is in line with the regulation,” he informed journalists. However, in line with the distinguished New York-primarily based totally watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at the least 4 Indian stores which have severely stated at the authorities were raided via way of means of tax officials or economic crimes investigators withinside the beyond years.
India has additionally fallen 10 spots to a hundred and fiftieth at the World Press Freedom Index, compiled via way of means of Reporters Without Borders, on the grounds that PM Modi took workplace in 2014.
Journalists have lengthy confronted harassment, criminal threats and intimidation for his or her paintings in India, however extra crook instances are being lodged towards journalists than ever, in line with the civil society institution Free Speech Collective. Criminal proceedings had been issued towards a report sixty seven newshounds in 2020, the ultra-modern yr for which figures are available, it stated.