Income Tax dept raids BBC offices in Delhi, Mumbai, calls it 'survey'

New Delhi: The Income Tax Department conducted raids at the Delhi and Mumbai offices of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Tuesday. The BBC office in New Delhi is located on KG Marg.

Calling it a 'survey operation', officials said the raid was part of a tax evasion investigation.

The department is looking at documents related to the business operations of the company and those related to its Indian arm, they said.

As part of a survey, the Income Tax Department only covers the business premises of a company and does not raid residences and other locations of its promoters or directors.

The BBC documentary "India: The Modi Question" on the 2002 Gujarat riots when Prime Minister Narendra Modi helmed the western state courted controversy last month. 

Congress attacks govt

The Congress on Tuesday took a swipe at the government over the Income Tax survey operation saying while they are demanding a JPC on the Adani issue it is after the BBC.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also used a Hindi idiom to attack the government, saying "Vinash Kale, Vipreet Buddhi" (When doom approaches, a person's intellect works against his interest).

"Here we are demanding JPC on the Adani issue but the government is after the BBC. Vinash Kale Viprit Buddhi," Ramesh said.
The Supreme Court had on Friday dismissed a plea seeking to impose a complete ban on the BBC in India in wake of a controversial documentary. 

The two-part BBC documentary, which claims it investigated into certain aspects relating to the 2002 Gujarat riots when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of that State, has been trashed by the Ministry of External Affairs as a "propaganda piece" that lacked objectivity and reflected a "colonial mindset."

On January 21, the government had issued directions for blocking multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the controversial documentary.