The tax oversight comes after an angry reaction to a documentary by the British broadcaster that focused on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership as chief minister of the western state of Gujarat during the 2002 riots.
The government has dismissed the documentary as propaganda and banned its streaming and sharing on social media. The tax inspection has drawn strong criticism from media bodies in India and abroad.
Without naming the BBC, the Central Board of Direct Taxes, in its first official statement after completing an office inspection, said that its “survey revealed that despite substantial consumption of content in various Indian languages (other than English), by various The income/profits shown are not commensurate with the scale of operations of the group entities in India.”
“During the course of the survey, the department collected several evidences relating to the operations of the organization which indicate that tax has not been paid on certain remittances, which have not been disclosed as income in India by the overseas entities of the group, It said.
