Income Tax sleuths raided the BBC's offices in Delhi and Mumbai on Tuesday over tax evasion and manipulation charges, global tax irregularities, and transfer price mismatch. The raids, called "surveys", came less than a month after BBC released a two-part documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 17 titled 'India: The Modi Question'. The documentary highlighted Modi's alleged role in the deadly Godhra riots in 2002 and has caused a major embarrassment to the leadership.
The I-T action is seen as an aftermath of the stinging Modi's criticism in the documentary by the British broadcaster, especially when he is sitting in the G-20 presidency and warming up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. So the question here is why did the government not crack down on BBC earlier if it suspected tax manipulation long ago? Why was a long rope given?
The raids triggered spontaneous reactions across the nation and outside, with sections of journalists and Opposition leaders calling it an assault on media freedom and a forceful attempt to stifle voices of dissent. The Editor's Guild of India expressed "deep concern" over what it called a continuation of a trend of using government agencies to intimidate and harass media organisations that are critical of government policies or the ruling establishment.
On the flip side, the BJP justified the raids by saying, "companies and media agencies must follow and respect the Indian law. It maintained that if laws are being followed, there's nothing to worry about. There is some weightage to this argument, and yes, no one is above the law, and every citizen must abide by the law and be accountable; that applies to the media and news agencies as well. But, the application of law cannot be as per the whim and fancies, and there cannot be selective targets.
Raids, or surveys, whichever way one sees them, are justified if there is no 'score-settling' element. The timing of the raids sent out a clear message that the government would not take criticism lying down. It again sets a horrible precedent ” you target me, and I will hit back.
The freedom of expression debate has taken centre stage once again, and constitutional democracy is being undermined along with the rights of journalists and media houses. Sadly, the BJP has retaliated by tearing down the reputation of BBC, calling it the world's most corrupt and nonsensical news agency, and that again smacks of vendetta.
While such acts of hitting back at critical voices are not new, media houses and journalists have been targets in the past; the worry is over brazenly doing it, mindful of the optics attached to it and all the backlash and opposition criticism that follows with it.
While BBC would enjoy the sympathy as the victim here, they will still have to prove a point and come clean on the allegations of tax evasion and manipulation against them. The government's action is an altogether different topic of discussion, and there is no way the British broadcaster can seek solace over the raids. Lastly, the I-T must disclose the findings sooner and not let the cloud of uncertainty hover. There is a lot at stake here.
