A journalist from Gujarat, in judicial custody in a case of alleged Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion, was charged in a separate case last week for allegedly possessing confidential government documents, sparking outrage from some quarters, including the Editors Guild of India.
Officials have, however, alleged that none of the documents related to the Gujarat Maritime Board, recovered from Mahesh Langa – a senior assistant editor with The Hindu – were used by him for professional purposes, and alleged that a corporate espionage ring was at play.
Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik said on Tuesday that the investigations had been professional and the police were not being vindictive towards Mr Langa. He added that the first information report in the documents case has been registered in Gandhinagar and details have been shared with the police there.
“Our investigations have been professional. Rs 20 lakh cash and incriminating documents were recovered from his house. In the GST case, his wife and cousin were also named as partners in one of the companies, if there was any vindictiveness… they are innocent and we have arrested only the main accused. According to their income tax returns from 2022-23, the couple earned Rs 15 lakh a year and Rs 20 lakh has been found from his house alone. He used to live a lavish lifestyle, stay in 5-star hotels and has also visited foreign countries. So, our investigation has been professional,” Mr Malik asserted.
“Mr Langa used his lifestyle and his connections to make people believe he could get their work done. He also portrayed himself as a broker in land deals. We have now registered another FIR based on a complaint from a person who has said he has cheated him of Rs 28 lakh,” he said.
Officials said no information from the confidential documents of the Gujarat Maritime Board made it to Mr Langa’s reportage in any print or electronic platform, indicating that he did not have them for journalistic purposes. They also said their initial investigation points to a corporate espionage ring, with bureaucrats supplying documents through Mr Langa to certain corporate players.
The Enforcement Directorate, which has already launched a probe based on a complaint by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence, is closely scrutinising the case based on leads from multiple raids. People familiar with the investigations maintained that bureaucrats who were using motivated leaks would face action.
The Gujarat police has charged Mahesh Langa for the illegal possession of government documents and is carrying out more searches to uncover what they call “the nexus”. The police have conducted searches and inquiries at the office of the maritime board and have arrested one employee of the board for allegedly leaking the official documents.
The journalist’s counsel has, however, denied any link to the companies in question or alleged fraud.