Outcry over arrest of senior journalist in Gujarat

Langa was arrested and his house was raided even though his name was not mentioned in the FIR. Neither Langa's wife nor his cousin were arrested, who are linked to the accused firm

Journalist bodies in the country have raised concerns over the arrest of The Hindu’s Gujarat correspondent Mahesh Langa by the state police in an alleged tax evasion case lodged by the directorate general of the GST intelligence unit.

Mahesh Langa, working as a senior assistant editor and Gujarat correspondent of The Hindu, was arrested on Tuesday, October 8, by the Ahmedabad city police, in an alleged Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion case against a firm linked to Langa’s family members.

The central GST commission is investigating a network of 200 companies which were found to be trying to evade tax, showing fake transactions. DA Enterprises, allegedly owned by Langa Manojkumar Rambhai, cousin brother of the arrested journalist, is one of the accused firms. The arrest was made following a complaint registered by the GST commission and an investigation conducted on the grounds of the complaint.

Langa was arrested and his house was raided even though his name was not mentioned in the FIR. Mahesh’s cousin Manojkumar is named as a witness in the FIR and Langa’s wife is a partner of the accused company.

While neither Langa’s wife nor his cousin were arrested, the arrest of Mahesh Langa raised concerns about targeting the journalist, who is known as an independent and critical voice in the media realm. According to the reports, Mahesh Langa was neither a part nor a promoter of the accused firm. The arrest was made when no transaction or signature was found in the name of the journalist was found by the police or the GST officials.

The Press Club of India, Delhi Union of Journalists, Indian Women’s Press Corps, and the Press Association, released a joint statement, terming Langa’s arrest and custodial interrogation as ‘procedural overreach’ and ‘perhaps an attempt to harass an individual whose name does not even feature in the primary FIR’.

“Mahesh Langa is a well-known and fearless journalist with a career of employment in many reputed publications. His reports on developments related to Gujarat have been widely appreciated”, read the joint statement by the media bodies.

The Hindu too raised concerns over the arrest of the journalist, with the Editor of the newspaper stating “We do hope that no journalist anywhere is targeted for their work, and we expect the investigation to be conducted fairly and quickly.”

Meanwhile, Bar and Bench reported that Mahesh Langa approached the Gujarat High Court on Friday, October 11, challenging the decision to remand him for 10 days in police custody.

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