Tax raid on Raghav Bahl: Editors guild says 'motivated' searches will undermine media freedom

The Editor's guild said it was perturbed over Raghav Bahl's statement that he had to strongly advise the tax officials that they should not try and pick up or see any other mail or document which is likely to contain very serious and sensitive journalistic material.

Raghav Bahl. Photo: Facebook

NEW DELHI: The Editors Guild of India Thursday expressed concern over the Income Tax department's searches at media owner Raghav Bahl's residence and office. The guild said it believed that "motivated" IT raids would seriously undermine media freedom and the government should desist from such attempts. A team of I-T sleuths raided the premises of the founder of The Quint website in Noida early morning, looking for documents and other evidence related to a case of "bogus long-term capital gains (LTCG) received by various beneficiaries". The guild said it was perturbed over Bahl's statement that he had to strongly advise the tax officials that they should not try and pick up or see any other mail or document which is likely to contain very serious and sensitive journalistic material. Read the full statement below: "Bahl is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Editors Guild of India and a founder of the Network18 Group. In his statement, Bahl has said that "we are a fully tax compliant entity and will provide all access to appropriate financial documents. The Guild is also perturbed over Bahl's statement that he had to strongly advise the tax officials that they should not try and pick up or see any other mail or document which is likely to contain very serious and sensitive journalistic material. If they do that, then we shall seel extremely strong recourse," Bahl said. While the tax administration is within its rights to make inquiries in compliance with the relevant laws, it should not exercise those powers in a way that could be seen as an intimidation of the government's critics. The Guild believes that motivated income tax searches and surveys will seriously undermine media freedom and the government should desist from such attempts." Earlier, Bahl had shared his "great concern" with the Editors Guild of India after dozens of IT officials descended on his residence and The Quint's office for a "survey". A statement by Raghav Bahl, said: "I have a matter of great concern to share with the Guild. While I was in Mumbai this morning, dozens of I-T officials descended on my residence and The Quint’s office for a “survey”. We are a fully tax compliant entity, and will provide all access to all appropriate financial documents. However, I have just spoken to the officer on my premises, one Mr Yadav, and requested him, strongly, to not try and pick up or see any other mail/document which is likely to contain very serious/sensitive journalistic material. If they do that, then we shall seek extremely strong recourse. I do hope the EG will back us on this, and thereby set a precedent for any such exercise that may happen on any other journalistic entity in the future. They should also not misuse their smartphones to take unauthorised copies of this material. I am now on my way back to Delhi. Warm regards. Raghav." (With PTI inputs)