‘Journalists’ associated with The Hindu have extended their support to the newspaper’s senior assistant editor, Mahesh Langa, who has been in custody since 8th October this year.
Langa was initially booked in a case related to Goods and Services Tax (GST) fraud. He was thereafter booked for theft of confidential government documents.
N Ram, who is infamous for fabricating Rafale documents, has thrown his weight behind Mahesh Langa. In his defence, N Ram (who serves on the Board of the Hindu group) alleged that punishing Langa would discourage ‘investigative journalism.’
Support a journalist’s right to obtain and process a confidential or ‘sensitive’ official document in the line of his or her work. Condemn the Gujarat police’s charges on this count against The Hindu’s Gujarat-based senior journalist, Mahesh Langa. If journalists are imprisoned… https://t.co/SS7VZSMJwk
— N. Ram (@nramind) October 26, 2024
“If journalists are imprisoned or otherwise penalised for obtaining and analysing such documents, much of investigative reporting would become extinct!” he brazened out.
‘The Hindu’ editor Suresh Nambath also claimed, “To file charges against them for possession of such documents is to undermine their journalistic work and their fundamental rights and to subvert the public interest. We urge the Gujarat police to drop the charges relating to the possession of classified documents against Mahesh.”
Mahesh Langa is currently lodged in Sabarmati jail. While the journalists at The Hindu are making the arrest of Langa sound like vendetta, the charges against him are serious.
FIR for leaking government documents in Gandhinagar
On 22nd October, the Gandhinagar Police filed a case against Mahesh Langa for the theft of confidential documents belonging to the Gujarat Maritime Board.
Investigations revealed that Langa exploited his position as a journalist to obtain government documents and later passed them to others.
The Hindu ‘journalist’ was booked under Sections 303(2), 306, 316(5), 61(2) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 7(A), 8(1), 12, 13(1), and 12(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
“During the investigation, the Ahmedabad police recovered some official documents of the GMB from his possession. Since these documents are government property, the board officials approached us and lodged a complaint against Langa and an unidentified employee of the GMB (who gave him documents),” SP Ravi Teja Vasamsetty said.
GST Fraud case
On 8th October, the Crime Branch arrested Mahesh Langa as part of the GST scam investigation.
The District Crime Branch (DCB) informed the court that over 200 illegally formed companies and organizations nationwide, working in a coordinated manner, were involved in this scam by taking advantage of fake Input Tax Credits (ITC).
So far, 14 people have been arrested in this case, including ‘journalist’ Mahesh Langa. According to the DCM, ₹20 lakhs (earned by evading income tax) was recovered from his home.
Langa had reportedly colluded with proprietors of one ‘Dhruvi Enterprise’ to siphon off ₹43.35 lakhs and obtained GST numbers based on fake documents.
Other significant revelations
Sources have made several revelations about Mahesh Langa –
- In the last 2 years, he got around 18 cr in different companies in which his wife and his brother (government teacher) were partners.
- Used shell companies to show fake expenditures for evasion of GST and income tax.
- Involved in multiple land dealings. Used his press contacts to get sensitive information on important town planing plans & forged partnerships
- Tried his contacts to befool some builders and get the entries as unsecured loans.
- Stayed in a number of the top 5-star hotel suites in Mumbai and Delhi and regularly threw lavish parties.
- Used dummy companies to siphon money and get kickbacks in father and wife’s accounts.
- Opened firms in his father’s name who is just 10th pass and generated income in the name of consultancy.
- Used charter flights and business class to travel numerous times.
