Umamah Bakharia | ub@radioislam.co.za

2 min read
17 February 2023 | 16:30 CAT

India’s Ministry of Finance is accused the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) of tax evasion, claiming that it had not fully declared its income and profits from its work in the country.

This comes after Indian tax authorities ended a three day search of the BBC’s offices in New Delhi and Mumbai on Thursday night.

In its first official statement released on Friday, the Central Board of Direct Taxes says that its “survey revealed that despite substantial consumption of content in various Indian languages (apart from English), the income/profits shown by various group entities is not commensurate with the scale of operations in India.”

The statement further claimed that the BBC had not disclosed its income in India.

“During the course of the survey, the Department gathered several evidences pertaining to the operation of the organization which indicate that tax has not been paid on certain remittances which have not been disclosed as income in India by the foreign entities of the group,” read the statement.

The search follows a documentary released by the BBC which focused on Prime Minister Narendra Modi role as cheif minister of the western state of Gujarat during the riots in 2002 which killed over 1 043 people.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Picture: The Statesman

Reporters Without Borders, an international media watchdog, denounced the government’s action as “attempts to clamp down on independent media”.

“These raids have all the appearance of a reprisal against the BBC for releasing a documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi three weeks ago. They have come at a time when independent media are being hounded more and more, and when pluralism is shrinking in India due to increased media concentration,” the group said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a BBC spokesperson has confirmed the tax officials had left the offices In New Delhi and Mumbai following the search.