A Gujarat court has denied bail to Mahesh Langa, a journalist with The Hindu, in a case involving allegations of Goods and Services Tax (GST) fraud [Mahesdan Prabhudan Langa v. Government of Gujarat].

While denying bail, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Manish V Chauhan was of the view that the ongoing probe reveals that Langa 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.

The Court also noted that Langa had entered into transactions of around ₹44 crore with one Dhruvi Enterprises to obtain bogus Input Tax Credits (ITCs) and had caused loss of crores of rupees to the nation.

"After reading the case papers and the objections presented, the accused Maheshdan Prabhudan Langa along with the co-accused formed a criminal conspiracy against the Income Tax and GST. GST with a firm named Dhruvi Enterprises as the manager of Paschan Saru Dhruvi Enterprises. It appears to have committed a serious crime by making financial transactions of Rs.43,35,949/-, obtaining bogus input credit and causing loss of crores of rupees to the nation's income...On perusal of the case papers it is found during the investigation that the applicant/accused in this case has played an active role in the crime. The investigation is ongoing. There is a possibility of tampering with evidence," the Court noted in its October 25 order.

The Court also noted that Langa had made his wife Kavitaben Langa a partner in a firm named 'DA Enterprise' for his own financial gain and with the intention of evading taxes and causing damage to the government.

Just after his arrest on October 8, Langa had moved a plea before the Gujarat High Court challenging the magistrate's remand order.

However, the plea was withdrawn on October 14.

Langa and three others were arrested on the morning of October 8 by the Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) in Gujarat.

He has been booked under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 474, 120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

This, after 13 firms and their owners were booked for allegedly committing fraud while claiming input tax credit (ITC), based on a complaint by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI).

The police alleged that 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.

In his bail plea, Langa had asserted that there is nothing to show that he was even remotely connected to the working or affairs of this company.

[Read Order]