Mahesh Langa, a journalist with ‘The Hindu’, has filed a petition before the Gujarat High Court challenging a magistrate’s order remanding him to police custody for ten days following his arrest on October 8. The arrest is linked to an alleged Goods and Services Tax (GST) fraud investigation.
Langa and the three others were arrested by the Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) based on a complaint filed by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI). The complaint alleged that 13 firms, including over 220 benami companies, had committed GST fraud, resulting in significant losses to the government by claiming ITC through fake bills. His alleged connection is to one of the companies, DA Enterprise, co-owned by his cousin. Langa contends in his petition that he has no involvement in the company’s operations and was not named in the First Information Report (FIR). He further claims that his arrest is politically motivated to obstruct his journalistic work.
The matter was mentioned before the Bench of Justice Sandeep Bhatt. Senior Advocate Jal Unwala, appearing for Langa, argued that the magistrate’s remand order lacked judicial application of mind, citing that remand for 10 days was granted without adequate reasoning. Unwala referred to the Supreme Court’s judgment that remand periods should not be determined solely by the gravity of the offence.
After briefly hearing the matter, the High Court directed that copies of the petition be served to the State and scheduled the case for hearing on October 14. The Court also instructed the State’s counsel to obtain instructions before the next hearing.