New Delhi, February 15, 2023 (PPI-OT):Following the survey operations by India’s Income Tax department at British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) offices in New Delhi and Mumbai on Tuesday, the BBC said that it was fully cooperating with the authorities. The BBC in a tweet said, “The Income Tax Authorities are currently at the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai and we are fully cooperating. We hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible.” As per reports, the employees of the BBC were asked not to use their computer systems and phones, including their personal ones.

Reports quoting sources said the employees working in the afternoon shift at the BBC’s Delhi office were asked to work from home, while those present in the office were asked to leave early. The IT department officials reached the BBC office in Delhi between 11.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. In Mumbai, a team of Income Tax Department sleuths carried out a ‘survey’ at the BBC’s Mumbai studios in the afternoon. The BBC studio is situated in a commercial hub near the Bandra Kurla Complex where offices of several Indian national and multinational companies are also located.

The sleuths are understood to have seized the mobiles, laptops, tablets of the staffers present there, though exact details of the investigations by the central probe agency were not available. A large number of media persons and photographers, besides many curious onlookers out for the lunch break, converged outside the studio building awaiting the nitty-gritties of the IT Department operation inside the BBC studio.

Reports claimed that the searches at the BBC offices were related to allegations of International Taxation and Transfer Pricing irregularities. However, political experts and media bodies maintained that the raids were part of vindictive action against the BBC for airing a documentary depicting the role of Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s role in the anti-Muslim riots in 2002 in Gujarat when he was Chief Minister of that state.

Indian media bodies including Press Club of India (PCI) and Editors Guild of India (EGI) said the raids are part of a series of attacks on the media by government agencies in recent times, especially against those sections of the media that the Narendra Modi’s government perceives is hostile to it and critical of the ruling establishment.

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