New Delhi: A court in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad on November 25 granted anticipatory bail to senior journalist Mahesh Langa, in a case wherein Langa is accused of cheating a businessman of Rs. 28 lakh.
Additional Sessions judge H.G. Pandya granted the anticipatory bail and noted that Langa is a local resident who has deep roots in the society and therefore, is unlikely to abscond, reported Bar and Bench.
“Considering the fact that the First Informant has not assigned any reason for delay in lodging the complaint, I (am) inclined to exercise discretionary power in favour of the present Applicant, by allowing the present anticipatory bail,” the court said.
Judge Pandya further observed that the dispute appeared to be civil in nature since it concerned the payment of money.
Langa, a senior assistant editor with The Hindu is presently in judicial custody and lodged in the Sabarmati Central Jail.
The Ahmedabad crime branch arrested him on October 10 in connection with allegations that he was part of a nexus of companies that evaded the Goods and Services Tax. However, as has been reported before, he is not named in the FIR. Langa’s lawyer Vedanta Rajguru has also said that his client was neither a director nor a promoter of the DA Enterprise company, which has been named in the FIR in the case.
The present case in which Langa was granted bail pertains to the allegations made by a businessman in the advertising industry who accused Langa of duping him of Rs 28.68 lakh and threatening to smear his business when asked to return the money.
