The Gujarat High Court on Thursday granted regular bail to senior journalist Mahesh Langa in a Goods and Services Tax (GST) fraud case. Justice M R Mengdey granted the bail, requiring Langa to furnish a personal bond of Rs 10,000 and one surety of the same amount. However, Langa remains in jail as his bail plea in a similar case registered by Rajkot police was rejected on Wednesday.
Langa, a journalist with The Hindu, has been in custody since his arrest on October 8. His bail pertains to a case lodged by the Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) based on a complaint from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Ahmedabad Zonal Unit. The allegations centre around tax credit fraud using false GST invoices.
The DCB’s chargesheet, filed earlier this week, accuses Langa and 13 others of obtaining tax benefits of over Rs 6.61 lakh on transactions amounting to Rs 44 lakh through a firm, DA Enterprises, where Langa is the proprietor. It is alleged that Langa understated the profits of his firm, submitted false purchase invoices to evade tax, and received fraudulent GST input tax credit without purchasing any goods.
“As the proprietor of DA Enterprises, he understated the actual profit of his firm by showing false purchase invoices to evade tax and received false GST tax credit without purchasing any goods,” the chargesheet stated.
The investigation claims Langa knowingly availed tax credits using forged documents and obtained four false e-way bills amounting to Rs 43,35,949. Additionally, he is accused of being complicit in a broader scheme involving over 220 bogus firms established using forged documents.
The chargesheet cites 10 witnesses, including Langa’s wife Kavita, cousins Manoj and Nilesh Langa, and his chartered accountant Jigar Shah. The charges against him include cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 474, and 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
In December, Langa was arrested by Rajkot police in a similar tax fraud case, and on Wednesday, his bail plea in that case was rejected. He was also granted anticipatory bail in a third case related to the possession of confidential government documents.
The High Court clarified that Langa’s release under this order applies only if he is not required in connection with any other ongoing offence.
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