Journalist Mahesh Langa moves Gujarat HC against 10-day police remand in alleged GST fraud case
Ahmedabad: Mahesh Langa, Senior Assistant Editor at The Hindu, has approached the Gujarat High Court challenging the 10-day police remand granted by a magisterial court in an alleged Goods and Services Tax (GST) fraud case.
Langa was taken into custody on October 7, following a complaint by the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI), which accused him of being involved in a scheme of fraudulent firms defrauding the government by availing bogus Input Tax Credit.
A single judge bench of Justice Sandeep N Bhatt heard the matter on October 11 and asked the state's counsel to obtain instructions, listing the matter for further hearing on October 14. During the hearing, Langa’s counsel, senior advocate Jal Unwala, argued that the magistrate had granted the remand without assessing the need for it, despite Langa not being named in the FIR.
The plea argues that the magistrate’s order was a "verbatim reproduction" of the investigating officer’s remand application, lacking independent application of mind. Langa's counsel contended that he had no connection with the fraudulent firms, and the Investigating Officer had not provided any evidence linking him to the transactions.
Langa remains in police custody until October 18.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Lokayukta questions CM’s brother-in-law, another accused in MUDA case for nine hours
Mysuru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s brother-in-law BM Mallikarjuna Swamy and land owner J Devaraju, who are the third and fourth accused in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land allotment ‘scam’, were questioned by the Lokayukta Police for more than nine hours on Thursday.
The accused were grilled separately from around 11.30 am till 9 pm regarding the allegations of their creation of fraudulent documents as well as illegal purchase of property. The Lokayukta Police officers checked the documents, evidence presented by the Mallikarjuna Swamy and Devaraju. Their statements were collected by the officers, who also cross-verified their accounts. Devaraju, after questioning, stated that he had shared necessary information regarding the case with the investigators.
Devaraju is learned to have given a site of three acres and 16 guntas under the administration of MUDA to Mallikarjuna Swamy in 2005. Devaraju, however, is accused by his nephew of using a fake title deed while selling the property to Mallikarjuna Swamy, who later gifted the site to his younger sister and CM Siddaramaiah’s wife, Parvathi, in 2010.
ALSO READ: Cabinet sub-committee formed under Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar to investigate COVID-19 scam
In addition to use of fake documents during the transfer of the sites, the MUDA ‘scam’ is rooted in Parvathi’s demand for compensation from the government body for taking over the site for development work. In 2020, she was given 14 sites by the MUDA as compensation, leading to allegations of office misuse by the CM. Facing pressure from the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, Parvathi returned the sites earlier this month.
As the Lokayukta probe into the case is expected to be concluded by December 25, the questioning of the two accused was considered crucial. The investigation team was led by Superintendent of Police (SP) TJ Udesh DSPs Malthesh and Mathew Thomas.
In addition, the case is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
