'They Swear By BBC, But Won't Believe Indian Courts': Kiren Rijiju On I-T Survey

Sharing an opinion piece by Shashi Shekhar Vempati, who stated that the outcry over the BBC's tax study in India was unjustified, Rijiju said, "Expectedly, the same eco-system got outraged."

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju.

Source : PTI

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday lashed out at individuals who had criticised the BBC's Income Tax study, claiming that certain people trusted foreign news organisations but not National investigative organisations.

Sharing an opinion piece by Shashi Shekhar Vempati, a former CEO of Prasar Bharti, who stated that the outcry over the BBC's tax study in India was unjustified, Rijiju said, "Expectedly, the same eco-system got outraged."

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju hits out at those criticising Income Tax survey at offices of BBC, says some people trust foreign news outlets but not Indian investigative agencies

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 16, 2023

"These people trust foreign news agencies but they won't trust Indian agencies. They swear by BBC but they won't believe Indian courts. They'll even abuse Supreme Court if one adverse judgement is passed," he tweeted.

"The survey of the BBC's Indian entities by the Indian Revenue Authorities has elicited an expected response from the media both inside and outside of India. Some people noticed personal connections between their own prior experiences in India, both genuine and imagined, while others went beyond the bounds of reason and reality to search for erroneous analogies between countries. The news broke on the same day that Air India placed the largest order for aircraft in aviation history with Airbus and Boeing, giving economies in France, the UK, and the US a huge boost," according to an opinion piece by Shashi Shekhar Vempati.

His comments come amid a political discussion sparked by the BBC's recent broadcast of a two-part documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots and India. The authorities disabled access to the documentary on social media.

India's tax officials conducted a survey operation at the BBC's offices in Delhi and Mumbai over the last three days as part of a probe into potential tax cheating.

After IT's survey on the BBC's Delhi and Mumbai offices ended on Thursday, BBC stated: "We will continue to co-operate with the authorities and hope matters are resolved as soon as possible. We are supporting staff - some of whom have faced lengthy questioning or been required to stay overnight - and their welfare is our priority." 

(With Inputs From Agencies)