Some trust foreign news outlets, not Indian agencies: Rijiju on I-T survey on BBC

New Delhi, Feb 16 (PTI) Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday hit out at those criticising the Income Tax survey at the offices of BBC, saying some people trust foreign news outlets but not Indian investigative agencies.

Sharing an opinion piece by former Prasar Bharti CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati, who argued that the outrage over the tax survey of BBC in India was misplaced, Rijiju said, “Expectedly, the same eco-system got outraged.”

“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.

His remarks come against the backdrop of a political debate triggered over the BBC recently airing a two-part documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots and India. The documentary was blocked by the government on social media platforms.

In the last two days, India’s tax authorities carried out the survey operation at BBC’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion.