Investigative news outlet ‘The Reporters’ Collective’ says non-profit status cancelled by Centre

The Reporters’ Collective, an investigative news platform, on Tuesday stated that the Income Tax Department had cancelled its non-profit status.

The tax authorities claimed that journalism did not serve a public purpose and therefore could not be carried out as a non-profit exercise in India, stated the collective, adding that it had existed as a formally registered non-profit trust since July 2021.

“We have consistently worked with public purpose as a non-profit and in adherence to all Indian laws, without fear or favour,” it said.

It added that the order cancelling the collective’s non-profit status “severely impaired” its ability to do its work and “worsened the conditions for independent public-purposed journalism in the country”.

The collective was seeking legal remedies to protect the idea of journalism as a public good and its right to carry out investigative journalism, it added.

“We at The Reporters’ Collective continue to believe that journalism, when done right, is an essential public service for our democracy,” it said. “Journalism done right is a public good. Investigative journalism that holds the powerful accountable essentially serves the citizens, particularly the poor and the marginalised.”

The collective has produced and published investigative news reports in several formats and languages, conducted research and trained journalists over the past five years.

The cancellation of its non-profit...

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