A spokesperson of the BBC said that the raids of the Income Tax Department in the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai have ended. They said that they will continue to cooperate with the IT authorities and hope that this matter will be resolved soon.
First Published Feb 17, 2023, 12:29 AM IST
The raids conducted by the Income Tax (IT) department at the BBC offices in India have ended. The three-day raids on the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai ended on Thursday (February 16) around 10 pm. A BBC spokesperson said in a statement that the IT officers have left the BBC offices.
According to a BBC spokesperson, “Income Tax officials have left our offices in Delhi and Mumbai. We will continue to cooperate with the authorities. We hope this issue will be resolved soon. We stand by our staff. The welfare of our staff is of utmost importance to us. Our operations are back to normal. We are committed to providing news to our audience and readers in and outside India. The BBC is a trusted independent media organisation. “We will always stand by our journalists and colleagues who report news without any fear or bias,” he said. On February 14, IT officials started searching the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai. It is reported that the BBC staff cooperated in this process.
The ruling BJP has defended the IT attacks on the BBC offices. No organization is above the law. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said on Tuesday that the searches are being carried out in accordance with the law and have nothing to do with the government. He described the BBC as the most corrupt organization in the world.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur also responded at the same time. He also defended IT attacks. Union Minister Anurag Thakur said that no one is above the law and the IT Department will give full details about the searches in BBC Delhi and Mumbai offices.
Criticism of the opposition
On the other hand, the IT attacks in the BBC offices have been strongly condemned by journalist associations, human rights groups and leaders of various political parties. These searches were criticized as being against the freedom of the press. In this order, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh responded on his Twitter platform. “Vinasakas are extreme intellects,” he said briskly.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reacted in her own style to the IT attacks on the BBC offices. Angry at the central government. Telangana Ministers KTR and Harish Rao also criticized. Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have also condemned the IT attacks on BBC offices.
