BJP MP Nishikant Dubey tweeted an alleged ITR document to claim a massive rise in the income of a journalist after he left his job to “abuse” Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. Who was this journalist? He left his followers to guess.
Dubey subsequently posted two more alleged tax returns on X. One, he alleged, belonged to an “honest journalist” with multiple bank accounts, and another to a journalist who purchased a house worth Rs 4 crore despite returns being in lakhs.
The so-called ITR document, which didn’t have any person’s name on it, pointed out that the taxable income rose from Rs 18.9 lakh in 2019 to Rs 1.2 crore in 2021-22 and then shrunk to Rs 62.7 lakh in 2022-23.
“Figure it out if you can: whose great journalist’s income tax return is this? Rs 18 lakh in salary, and the moment they quit the job, meaning as soon as they start roaming the streets, abusing Modi ji/BJP, it's in crores. This is the real truth,” Dubey wrote.
Journalist Abhisar Sharma retweeted Dubey’s post and tagged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, saying that “confidential documents and details of tax payers… are being tweeted in the public forum by none other than a Member of Parliament.”
Sharma also tagged the Income Tax Department and stated that he will file an FIR against Dubey, who, the journalist said, “doesn’t have the guts to name the journalist. But this is what you do. Sheer cowardice.” Journalist Ravish Kumar also pointed at the disturbing signal the tweet sends out. “Is the BJP now going to extract everyone's ITR and target them? Will someone's hard-earned income be criminalized in this manner?”
बहुत परेशान करने वाली खबर है। क्या अब बीजेपी सबके ITR निकाल कर टारगेट करने वाली है? किसी की मेहनत की कमाई को इस तरह से CRIMINALISE किया जाएगा? क्या CBDT का BJP में विलय हो गया है? आखिर निशिकांत दुबे के पास ये जानकारी कहाँ से आई? वे किसी भी नागरिक का ITR कैसे सार्वजनिक कर सकते… https://t.co/UfdGch1BYU
— ravish kumar (@ravish_journo) August 28, 2025
A ruling BJP party MP illegally accessing data held by govt of a journalist to dog whistle against him while his leader, the Prime minister prevents disclosure of information to confirm what is part of a sworn affidavit. And for what? Legitimate income on which tax has been paid… https://t.co/X4cvvGvXSw
— Nitin Sethi (@nit_set) August 28, 2025
Disclosing the ITR of an individual is punishable under section 72 (breach of confidentiality and privacy) and section 138 (disclosure of information respecting assessees) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Update on August 29: This report has been updated with details of more social media posts by Dubey.
Small teams can do great things. All it takes is a subscription. Subscribe now and power Newslaundry’s work.
Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.
