Govt wary of media houses that ask tough questions: DIGIPUB Chairperson Dhanya Rajendran
New Delhi: The DIGIPUB News India Foundation, which has been formed by digital media organizations with the intent to help ensure the creation of a healthy and robust news ecosystem for the digital age on Saturday condemned the I-T Raids at the media organizations News Click and News Laundry offices on Friday.
Editor-in-Chief of The News Minute and Chairperson of DIGIPUB, Dhanya Rajendran while speaking to Vartha Bharati, said she was not surprised at the actions of the Income Tax Department.
She added the government was consistently targeting small media houses that question them.
“I am not surprised at this action by the Income Tax Department as for many months now the government has been consistently targeting smaller media houses that have questioned the government,” she told Vartha Bharati.
“Whether it's the Digital Media rules or action by IT and other departments, one thing is clear, the government is wary of media houses that ask tough questions and digital media houses in particular” she further said.
Newslaundry co-founder Abhinandan Sekhri had earlier said "We have nothing to hide and have done everything by the book and are not in any breach or violation of any law. We conduct our business honestly and with integrity,"
Sekhri said the tax team told him he "cannot" speak to his lawyer and the law requires him to comply "without seeking legal advice" adding that the officials were courteous and professional.
He said "no signed hash value of the data copied" was provided to him and that he considered this as a violation of his fundamental right to privacy.
The tax department surveyed the office of the news portal located at Sarvodaya Enclave in south Delhi on Friday along with that of another digital news platform Newsclick in the Saidulajab area (south Delhi) on charges of alleged tax evasion.
Sekhri said the tax team comprising about 6-7 people arrived at their office around 12.15 pm and left around 12.40 am on Saturday.
"They searched and looked through all computer devices at the premises. My personal mobile phone, laptop, and a couple of office machines were taken control of and all the data on them downloaded by the IT team," he said.
Sekhri said this was the second visit by the tax authorities to his office, the first being in June, and they had given "all documents related to our funding and accounts" to the officials then.
"We will cooperate in whatever way we are required to by the law. We will also continue to practice public interest journalism which is why we exist," he said.
Tax officials had said that separate survey operations on the two news portals were conducted to verify certain tax payment details and remittances made by the organizations.
As part of a survey operation, carried out under Section 133A of the Income Tax Act, 1961, tax officials cover only the business premises of an assessee and those linked to it and not their residential addresses.
However, they are authorized to seize documents, computers,s and electronic devices as part of the surprise action.
The authorities left the premises of Newslaundry a little past midnight.
Newsclick, its founder and Editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha, and other executives were raided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) earlier in February under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and that investigation is linked to allege dubious foreign funding received by its registered company, which runs the news portal.
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Biker injured, leopard dies in road accident near forest area in Shivamogga
Shivamogga: A leopard was killed after being hit by a motorcycle near Mandagadde in Thirthahalli taluk of Shivamogga district.
According to reports, the biker was travelling from Shivamogga towards Thirthahalli when the leopard suddenly came onto the road from a nearby forest area near Mandagadde. The rider is said to have lost control of the bike and crashed into the animal.
The leopard suffered severe injuries in the impact and died on the spot. The biker also fell onto the road along with the motorcycle and sustained serious injuries. He was shifted to a hospital in Shivamogga for further treatment.
After receiving information about the incident, forest department officials, including Gajanur RFO Vinay Kumar, visited the spot and conducted an inspection.
