By Our Staff
The News Broadcasters & Digital Association (NBDA) expresses its deep anguish over the Income Tax ‘surveys’ conducted at the offices of BBC, a member of NBDA.
Said Annie Joseph, Secretary General in a communiqué – While NBDA maintains that no institution is above the law, it condemns any attempt to muzzle and intimidate the media and interfere with the free functioning of journalists and media organizations. Such attempts undermine the basic tenets of free speech as enshrined in the Constitution and severely affect the free and fearless functioning of a democracy.
NBDA states that such Income Tax ‘surveys’ leads to consistent harassment of the media, which also impacts the reputation and image of India as the world’s largest democracy. NBDA urges the Government to ensure that any investigation undertaken by it, must be in strict adherence with the principles of natural justice and the prevalent law.