Archives for February 2023

NEW DELHI: The Income Tax department’s ‘survey’ at the BBC office here continued for the third straight day on Thursday as officials gathered financial data from select staffers and made copies of electronic and paper data of the news organisation.

The operation that began at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) offices in Delhi and Mumbai around 11:30 am on Tuesday has clocked more than 45 hours now, officials said.

Authorities had said on Wednesday that the exercise would continue for some more time, saying the “exact time frame to call the operation closed rests entirely on the teams on the ground”.

The survey is being carried out to investigate issues related to international taxation and transfer pricing of BBC subsidiary companies, officials have said.

The survey teams are seeking answers on financial transactions, the company structure and other details about the news company, and are copying data from electronic gadgets as part of their task of collecting the evidence, tax officials had said.

Opposition parties have denounced the I-T department action against the London-headquartered public broadcaster, terming it “political vendetta”.

On Tuesday, the ruling BJP had accused the BBC of “venomous reporting” while the Opposition had questioned the timing of the action that came weeks after the broadcaster aired a two-part documentary “India: The Modi Question” on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots.

While there has been no official statement from the Income Tax department on the action, the BBC has said it was cooperating with the authorities.

A BBC staffer in Delhi said they were broadcasting their news like usual.

The Supreme Court last week dismissed a plea seeking the imposition of a complete ban on the BBC in India in the wake of the controversial documentary, terming the petition “entirely misconceived” and “absolutely meritless”.

Another set of petitions challenging the government’s decision to block the documentary’s access on social media platforms will be heard in April.

On January 21, the government had issued directions to block multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the documentary.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

Wayanad (Kerala): Senior Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi on Monday visited the house of a tribal man who was found dead near Kozhikode medical college recently.

Vishwanathan (46) was found hanging near the medical college hospital at Kozhikode on February 11, where his wife was admitted for delivery.

Gandhi, who reached the Kozhikode airport on Sunday night, visited the house of Vishwanathan in Wayanad district this morning along with party leaders.

Gandhi, who represents Wayanad constituency in the Lok Sabha, spent some time with the family, listening to their woes and complaints and consoled them.

Kozhikode Medical College police have said that they have already registered a case when the relatives lodged a complained that the tribal man was missing from the hospital. However, Vishwanathan was later found hanging on February 11.

The family alleged that some persons had harassed Vishwanathan on February 9 after which he went missing. The kin had charged that some persons accused Vishwanathan of theft and roughed him up on February 9.

This was the first visit of Gandhi to his constituency after successfully completing the over 4,000-kilometre long Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir on January 30.

Gandhi was accorded a warm reception by the party leaders and workers outside the Kozhikode International airport on Sunday.

New Delhi : The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the stand of student activists Sharjeel Imam, Asif Iqbal Tanha and others on the city police’s challenge to a trial court order discharging them in a 2019 Jamia Nagar violence case.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued notice to Imam and others on the plea by the Delhi Police, and clarified that the observations of the lower court would not affect further investigation in the matter or trial.

The trial court had in its February 4 order discharged 11 people, including Imam and Tanha, while holding that they were made “scapegoats” by police and that dissent has to be encouraged, not stifled.

The FIR was lodged in connection with the violence that erupted after a clash between police and people protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in the Jamia Nagar area here in December 2019.

The police, in its petition, has said the trial court’s order is in the teeth of well settled principles of law, suffers from grave infirmities which go to the root of the matter and is perverse in the eyes of the law.

The police plea said the trial court has not only discharged the accused persons but was also swayed by “emotional” and “sentimental feelings” and has cast aspersions on the prosecuting agency and passed “gravely prejudicial” and “adverse” remarks against the prosecuting agency and the investigation

Imam was accused of instigating the riots by delivering a provocative speech at the Jamia Milia University on December 13, 2019. He will continue to remain in jail as he is an accused in the larger conspiracy case of the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.

In its order, the trial court had said there were admittedly scores of protesters at the site and some anti-social elements within the crowd could have created an environment of disruption and havoc.

While discharging the 11 accused, the trial court had ordered framing of charges against one of the accused, Mohammad Ilyas

The Jamia Nagar police station had filed the charge sheet against Imam, Tanha, Safoora Zargar, Mohammad Qasim, Mahmood Anwar, Shahzar Raza Khan, Mohammad Abuzar, Mohammad Shoaib, Umair Ahmad, Bilal Nadeem, Chanda Yadav and Mohammad Ilyas.

The charge sheet was filed under various sections of the IPC, including 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 435 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to cause damage), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).

The charge sheet also included provisions of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

The matter would be heard next on March 16.

Istanbul: Nearly a week after Central Turkey and northern and western Syria was struck by an earthquake, the rescuers continue to pull out survivors from the rubble.

Recently, a Turkish man and a 62-year-old woman were found trapped under a collapsed building for nearly a week. The rescuers had to crawl down the tunnel to access the buried people.

A Twitter handle by the name “Report War” posted a video showing the British search team rescuing a Turkish boy trapped for five days being saved by the rescuers crawling down a tunnel created in Hatay.

Seven-year-old Mustafa and Nafize Yilmaz 62-year-old woman were recused after 168 hours of being trapped, on Sunday, which was the latest miracle rescue after five days of being trapped under the building collapse.