The Hindu journalist Mahesh Langa has told the Gujarat High Court that the case filed against him by the Gandhinagar Police over obtaining “highly confidential government documents” through an alleged criminal conspiracy was “speculative in every sense”, LiveLaw reported.
The FIR alleges that the documents were received through an unauthorised channel by an “unidentified employee” of Gujarat Maritime Board and were not provided by the public information officer nor was it available on public domain. But Langa’s petition claims the allegations are based on conjecture and prima facie do not establish Langa’s involvement.
Last week, Langa was booked by the Gujarat police in a fifth case for purportedly extorting Rs 40 lakh from a real estate agent.
According to LiveLaw, Justice Divyesh A Joshi issued a notice to the state on Thursday on Langa’s petition seeking quashing of the FIR. As the court issued a notice, Langa’s lawyer Kapil Sibal requested that no coercive steps be taken in the meantime.
“There may be a bail there(in the other case) and then immediately he may be arrested,” Sibal said, according to LiveLaw. To this the court orally said, “He is in judicial custody. Where is the question of...coercive steps?”
The court will next hear the matter on February 13.
On Tuesday, the government had opposed Langa's regular bail in an alleged case of GST fraud registered by Rajkot police. The government said he had been booked in another FIR for theft of highly confidential government documents. Justice MR Mengdey had reserved the verdict after hearing the submissions by all the parties.
The allegations against Langa
Langa was first booked by the Ahmedabad police's crime branch in an alleged GST scam in October last year. The crime branch FIR said that several individuals and entities, including a firm allegedly owned by Langa’s cousin, were part of a network of 200 establishments which purportedly tried to evade taxes through fraudulent transactions.
In the same month, Langa was booked by the Gandhinagar police on the charges of theft after official documents were allegedly recovered from his residence during a raid.
Several press bodies had condemned the second FIR against Langa and had urged the Press Council of India to “perform its mandate of safeguarding the freedom of the press”. The Editors Guild of India also issued a statement saying the FIR against Langa for possessing “confidential” documents was “worrisome” as journalists are often required to review sensitive documents in the course of their work.
Langa was then slapped with a cheating case by the Ahmedabad police and in December last year, the Rajkot police booked him in another case of alleged GST evasion. He was granted bail by the Gujarat High Court in the alleged case of GST scam filed by the crime branch but remains lodged in jail in connection with other cases.
Newslaundry reported in detail on the cases against Langa. Why didn’t local journalists speak up for him? And is there another reason why the police are pinning him down? Read our report to find out.
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