On Thursday, 9th January, the Gujarat High Court granted bail to ‘The Hindu’ journalist Mahesh Langa who was arrested for GST tax evasion amounting to Rs 6.64 lakhs. Langa is believed to have evaded tax through bogus claims of Input Tax Credit (ITC).
This notably is the first relief for the journalist who is facing multiple criminal charges filed against him at the DCB police station in Ahmedabad. However, he would continue to stay in jail as he is facing charges in 5 more cases relating to tax evasion.
“The authorities will release the applicant only if he is not required in connection with any other offense for the time being. If the breach of any of the above conditions is committed, the Sessions Judge concerned will be free to issue a warrant or take appropriate action in the matter,” the bail order released by Justice MR Mengdey read.
Langa’s advocate noted in the court that his client had been in jail in this particular case since October 8th and that he was willing to pay back the evaded GST amount. He also said that there was a delay in filing the FIR in the case and he was running a firm identified as DA Enterprises.
He said that the FIR filed in the case was not maintainable and that there was a separate mechanism to be followed to treat the accused in such cases under the GST Act. “The maximum punishment for the offense under the GST Act is a year’s imprisonment. The arrest was politically motivated as he was a journalist,” he added.
As per the reports, the state and the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence have opposed the bail application. Though the bail has been issued to Langa, he will continue to stay in judicial custody as four more cases have been filed against him.
Arrest, lavish lifestyle and GST fraud
Langa was arrested on 8th October in this case under sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (forged document), 474 (punishment for possessing forged document), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Later, reports suggested that Langa led a lifestyle far beyond his salary, amassing crores of rupees over the past two years. Mahesh leveraged his position as a journalist to engage in blackmail, settlements, and illicit business activities, reportedly earning millions through these means. Additionally, his name had surfaced concerning the leak of sensitive government documents.
Despite an annual salary reportedly only in the lakhs, a recent Ahmedabad Crime Branch search at his home uncovered Rs 20 lakhs in cash. Police also recovered expensive jewelry and documents related to property holdings. It was also reported that Mahesh and his wife frequently visited luxury hotels like the Oberoi and Taj Man Singh. As per the revelations, he and his wife stayed in such establishments over 98 times in the past year without covering any of the costs themselves.
Investigations further revealed that the lavish lifestyle of the journalist was primarily funded through around 220 shell companies. He also frequently traveled by chartered flights, with fares amounting to lakhs. He even has a history of hosting an extravagant birthday party, inviting prominent businessmen and city officials. For this event, he reportedly paid a Rs 5 lakh advance for the hall and gifted gold coins to each guest.
It was also learned that Langa acquired government documents but did not use these for journalism. He rather used the documents to blackmail officials and government bodies. As Mahesh Langa was first brought for questioning by the Crime Branch, he claimed that he was being targeted by the government because of his work as a journalist, but this defense failed, and he was arrested.
During the investigation, it was determined that Langa had been in contact with specific officials, with chat logs to back this up located on his devices. A further police investigation found that Mahesh had gotten documents and other private information about the Gujarat Maritime Board, triggering a search of the GMB office in Gandhinagar.
After seizing several documents and materials, the Gandhinagar police registered another FIR against him at the Sector 7 police station. Another FIR was filed against Langa on 30th October after the authorities conducted massive raids against Langa across Gujarat. The FIR was filed by Pranav Shah, director of an advertising company named Khushi Enterprises, who claimed that Langa defrauded him of Rs 28 lakh, allegedly failing to return funds provided for specific work.
The first FIR against Langa pertains to the GST scam, while the second was filed by Gandhinagar police, which alleges that he exploited his position as a journalist to leak government documents. The second case is related to the Gujarat Maritime Board and it is a sensitive case due to national security concerns linked with it. The third FIR addressed the Rs 28 lakh fraud accusation, adding another accusation to the complex case against him. The fourth case involved the creation of four fake e-way bills and in December, the journalist was again arrested in a separate tax fraud case by the Rajkot police.