The Gujarat High Court on Thursday granted bail to journalist Mahesh Langa in a case involving allegations of Goods and Services Tax (GST) fraud..Justice MR Mengdey granted bail to Langa subject to furnishing a bail bond of ₹10,000 and one surety of the same amount."The applicant (Mahesh Langa) is ordered to be released on regular bail in connection with FIR being C.R.NO. 11191011240257 of 2024 registered with D.C.B. Police Station, Ahmedabad, on executing a personal bond of Rs.10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand only) with one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial Court."The authorities should release Langa only if he is not required in connection with any other offence for the time being, the Court clarified..Langa, a journalist with The Hindu newspaper, was arrested on October 8 in a case of GST fraud.This after 13 firms and their owners were booked for allegedly committing fraud while claiming input tax credit (ITC).The arrest was made based on a complaint by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI).According to the police, the GST fraud resulted in a loss to the government exchequer, with the accused obtaining ITC through fake bills. The first information report (FIR) claimed that over 220 benami firms were established using forged documents as part of the scheme.He was booked for offences under Sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (forged document), 474 (punishment for possessing forged document), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)..Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Manish V Chauhan denied bail to Langa in October last year after noting that the ongoing probe revealed that he had played an active role in the commission of the offence and had hatched a conspiracy with other co-accused to evade income tax and GST.During the hearing before the High Court, the counsel for Langa argued that he was ready and willing to repay the amount of input tax credit which was wrongfully availed by him, as alleged in the FIR.It was further contended that the FIR in its present form is not maintainable as there is a separate mechanism provided under the GST Act for prosecuting such type of offences.The prosecution has interestingly not invoked any of the offences enumerated in the provisions of the GST Act and in absence of any such offence having been alleged against the present applicant, the FIR alleging commission of offence under the IPC is not maintainable, the counsel said..The Court noted that so far the aspect of money laundering was concerned, there was no material on record regarding the same."The applicant has been arrested in connection with the present offence on 08.10.2024. Thus, the investigation of the offence alleged against the present applicant is virtually over by now," the Court held.Given the facts and allegations in the FIR, the Court found it appropriate to grant bail to Langa.Advocates AJ Yagnik and Vedant Rajguru appeared for Langa..Langa had earlier been granted anticipatory bail by city civil and sessions court in Gujarat's Ahmedabad in a cheating case..[Read Order]
