Cooperating with tax authorities: BBC

NEW DELHI/LONDON: A day after sources in the income tax department disclosed that BBC had acknowledged it may have paid lower taxes than its liability in India, the British broadcaster sai d it was cooperating with the tax authorities. “The BBC is cooperating fully with the Indian tax authorities’ enquiries and will continue to do so. The process is ongoing and will t ake time to conclude. The BBC, of course, takes its tax obligations very seriously,” BBC's official spokesman said in London as it came under fire from the government and BJP.
The cryptic reaction came amid BJP’s fierce attacks on its opponents for dubbingthe I-T department’s survey on BBC premises in India a vindictive response to the bro adcaster telecasting a documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots.
“We have people who are not a ble to differentiate between espionage and freedom of press. Our laws are completely transparent and if you had to pay a tax, the slabs are completely clear. When notice is served to those avoiding taxes, they start a hue and cry,” housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, taking a dig at those who had cited the I-T departm ent’s action against BBC to saythat democracy w as under attack in India.
The minister said some “intellectuals and misguided” people in the country start condemning without knowing the facts and added that he wanted to assure people tha t India was not only the largest democracy in the world but the country also had a robust democracy and “even if someone wishes, nobody can erode democracy in the country”.
He, however, questioned BBC’s journalism, saying that its previous actions showed that it was in league with “people with an agenda on India”.