'Instruments of harassment': Editors Guild, Press Club of India react to IT survey at BBC offices

Following the raids at BBC offices, the Editors Guild of India demanded that great care and sensitivity be shown in all such investigations so as to not undermine the rights of journalists and media organisations. The Press Club of India (PCI) also condemned the Income Tax Department's surveys.

New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India and the Press Club of India Tuesday reacted with concern over the I-T Department's Income Tax surveys at the offices of BBC India. The Guild in a statement said it was "deeply concerned" about the surveys at the offices of BBC India and termed it as a continuation of a "trend" of using government agencies to "intimidate and harass" media outlets critical of the ruling establishment.

The Guild also demanded that great care and sensitivity be shown in all such investigations so as to not undermine the rights of journalists and media organisations. The statement came after Income Tax authorities conducted a survey operation at the BBC's offices in Delhi and Mumbai as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion. The action, it is learnt, is being carried out to investigate some international taxation and transfer pricing issues.

The broadcaster said it was "fully cooperating" with the tax authorities. "The survey by the I-T department is in continuation of a trend of using government agencies to intimidate and harass press organisations that are critical of government policies or the ruling establishment," the Guild said in a statement here. The Guild noted that the IT survey came soon after the release of two documentaries by the BBC on the 2002 violence in Gujarat and the current status of the minorities in India.

The documentaries stirred political waters, with the government criticising the BBC for wrong and prejudiced reportage on the Gujarat violence and attempting to ban online access and viewing of the films in India, it said. It recalled that IT surveys were conducted in 2021 at the offices of NewsClick, Newslaundry, Dainik Bhaskar and Bharat Samachar.

"In each case, the raids and surveys were against the backdrop of critical coverage of the government establishment by the news organisations," the Guild said. "This is a trend that undermines constitutional democracy," it said. The Guild reiterated its earlier demand that governments ensure that such investigations are conducted within the prescribed rules and that they don't degenerate into instruments of harassment to intimidate independent media.

The Press Club of India (PCI) also condemned the Income Tax Department's surveys at the offices of the BBC. "The recent 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 government perceives as hostile to it," the PCI said in a statement.

It appealed to the government to restrain its agencies from "misusing their powers in order to intimidate the media". "If the government has any issue with the report, it should take it up with the concerned office rather than shoot the messenger," the PCI said.

Read: IT 'surveys' at BBC offices: British broadcaster accused of 'diversion of profits', 'persistent non-compliance'

Read: BBC reacts to tax 'survey': 'Fully cooperating'; 'hope to have the situation resolved as soon as possible'