New Delhi:
In a classic case of Undeclared Emergency, Few income tax (I-T) officials on Thursday, 11 October conducted a daylong raid at the office of Quintillion Media Pvt Ltd in Noida, which runs the website The Quint, and is owned by Raghav Bahl. According to the I-T official leading the team, they are conducting a “search” on one floor of the office, and a “survey” on the other. Simultaneous raids were carried out at Bahl’s residence and The News Minute’s office.
Journalists from across the country condemned the raid – terming it “intimidation” – and demanded that the government “explain” the reasons behind the same. They termed it an “attack on the freedom of press.”
The raid is seen as attempt to silence the fourth pillar,by Ruling regime
Bahl, who founded Network18 had Quint website, has been extremely vocal with his criticism for the Centre’s Narendra Modi government recently. The PTI report said that searches had been carried out at Bahl’s home and offices in Noida near Delhi, in connection with allegations of tax evasion.
He was also reportedly denied a licence to launch a new TV channel by the Modi government.
Former journalist and politician Ashutosh claimed that Bahl was targeted for “criticising the Modi government.”
The I-T officers during raids at Bahl’s residence attempted to clone data from Ritu Kapur’s gadgets. This is not authorized under the powers of the survey. Journalists termed this action an attack on press freedom, calling it beyond “outrageous.”
