"Professional Probe": Gujarat Police After Outrage Over Journalist's Arrest

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 Mr Langa 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.

Sources said the ambit of the probe may widen and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Income Tax Department may also get involved.

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.

'Worrisome'

The Editors Guild of India (EGI) said it had noted the FIR against Mr Langa in the documents case with concern. 

"Journalists are often required to access and review sensitive documents in the course of their work, and initiating punitive action against them for doing their work is worrisome... EGI hopes that Mr Langa will not be deprived of fair and speedy justice. It is important that the Gujarat police disclose details about the second set of accusations leveled against him over possessing the confidential documents," the Guild said in a statement on Monday.

Responding to the Editors Guild's post on X, Malini Parthasarathy, the former chairperson of the Hindu Group, said on Monday that journalists are not above the law and "press associations & journalists do no favour to this great profession by shielding journalists from accountability for their actions that have nothing to do with the publications they work for". 

She also said that the FIRs against Mahesh Langa were not registered "on the basis of" reports filed by him for The Hindu and were for other charges that require investigation.

"It is unfortunate that this incident centering solely on an individual answerable in his private capacity for his own actions, has taken on the colour of an attack on press freedom & said to be a violation of his journalistic rights," she wrote.