BBC did not Respond to Past Tax Notices: Government Officials amidst Surveys; Another Attempt by the Modi Government in Smothering the ‘Freedom of Press’
The officials of the IT department have stated that BC did not respond to the past allegations. The media agency has been framed for the manipulation of transfer pricing rules and the diversion of profits.
Recently, BBC has been on the highlight because the reputed media agency has alleged the diversion of profits and was found non-compliant with the transfer pricing rules. The BBC has defied the Income Tax Act. Sources have said that they have sent letters to the media agency multiple times, but BBC did not provide any convincing response and forcefully denied the allegations.
The BBC has not provided any convincing response to the Indian Tax authorities in the past. The present survey was conducted as a routine check to transfer the pricing rules and diversion of profits. It has been stated by a senior Indian government official who did not disclose his identity.
The tax officials searched for BBC offices in Mumbai and Delhi for the second day.
Kanchan Gupta, the Senior Adviser at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has mentioned that the sudden income tax raid was a way of reiteration the documentary published by BBC about the Gujarat riots and called out the survey as ‘done out of sense’
In addition, BBC has informed its employees that the Indian government is looking into the whereabouts of the firm, like its structure, activities, and tax status.
The BBC’s deliberate violation of the transfer pricing regulations and the diversion of its profits, according to the sources, prompted the Income Tax authorities to conduct a survey of the BBC’s New Delhi offices.
According to the Income Tax Act, the IT survey is routinely carried out and is not part of a raid or search.
The survey has identified instances of rule violations. BBC has broken the law and diverted a sizable portion of its profits. The main goal of the IT survey was to look for price manipulation for unreported benefits, which included tax advantages. The surveys were carried out because of BBC’s repeated violations of the rules and regulations.
BBC violated the transfer pricing regulations. According to sources, BBC consistently and purposefully broke the transfer pricing policy and diverted the profits. Additionally, the business has not flouted the rules for distributing profits.
Additionally, the media agency has stated that it is taking part in the survey.
With charges brought against the company, the firm has been charged with embezzling the funds overseas.
Despite numerous warnings, the media agency has not abided by the rules.
The BBC’s 2002 Gujarat riots documentary, India: the Modi Question, brought attention to the IT tax raid.
Invoking the emergency powers of the IT Rules of 2021, Narendra Modi has denounced the documentary series as hostile propaganda against the BJP-led government and banned the sharing of links or videos pertaining to the subject.
The opposition has blamed the raid as a way of targeting the media agency for showing a documentary critical of PM Modi’s state that took place in Gujarat when he was the chief minister in 2002.
The Modi-led Indian government on the verge of murdering the constitutional right of freedom of the press; another smothering attack on the BBC:
Minutes after the IT survey was conducted in the BBC offices, the spokesperson of the BJP Government started calling out the media platform as the most corrupt corporation in the world and listed short inventories of the accused firm of its previous allegations.
The media agency has previously called out Mahatma Gandhi- he failed to free India in 1946 although it made sense that India gained its independence in 1947.
They have even blamed BBC for insulting the Supreme court of India for releasing a documentary that questions Modi’s position as the chief minister in the anti-Muslim riots.
The tax raids on the media agency have set a strong example that when someone questions the activities of the Modi government, he will face a strong reiteration of the same. The first part of the BBC documentary was banned because it insulted the Supreme Court of India, but it was a representation of the shameful deeds performed by our ‘great leader’ in 2002.
In 2022, the Supreme Court denied the charges against Narendra Modi for conspiring against the Anti-muslim riots because of the lack of evidence, as Zakia Jafri has accused in her petition. But, the Modi government did not take any measures to save the victims and made it a priority to save the perpetrators.
The Modi government has continued the practice of accusing any media outlet of financial propriety when it finds anything unfavorable rather than reporting on the validity of the content.
The cynical truth is that the government’s actions are enough to silence media outlets or may force them to temper their opinions.
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
