Director of Gujarat Samachar firm arrested by ED, granted interim bail

Sources in the ED said Bahubali had been arrested in connection with a case of money laundering the agency has been probing since 2023. I-T sources told The Indian Express: “Originally search warrants were issued for 24 premises, then subsequently increased. The company was being tracked simultaneously by both the ED and I-T Department for tax evasion.”

Bahubali is a director in Lok Prakashan Limited, which runs Gujarat Samachar as well as GSTV.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised the ED action, saying in a post on X: “The attempt to silence Gujarat Samachar is another conspiracy to suppress the voice not just of one newspaper but of entire democracy. When newspapers that hold power accountable are locked, then understand that democracy is in danger. The arrest of Bahubali Shah is a part of the same politics of fear which has now become the identity of the Modi government.”

Shreyansbhai told The Indian Express: “Income Tax officials came to my house early morning on Wednesday, and went to all the premises of Bahubali, my sons Nirmam and Amam, and everyone else associated with us… Yesterday (Thursday) at 6 pm they came with an arrest warrant for Bahubali, without any notice.”

Punishment to stand up for Truth has been the motto of the BJP government.
Leading Gujarati newspaper Gujarat Samchar has always stood up against power, who so ever it be. However, showing mirror to BJP Government and PM Modi in the recent India – Pakistan fallout has ensured… pic.twitter.com/09gfFouuWc

— Shaktisinh Gohil MP (@shaktisinhgohil) May 15, 2025

He added: “We don’t know why they are treating us like someone from the underworld… as if I am a criminal… After all these years, what happened all of a sudden?”

Gujarat Samachar, which is in its 97th year of publishing, is distributed across Gujarat and parts of Maharashtra, with its website quoting a 2014 Indian Readership Survey pegging its average daily readership at 4.6 million.

The daily was founded by the late Shantilal Shah, father of Shreyansbhai and Bahubali. Lok Prakashan was incorporated as a public limited company in 1940. The flagship brand of the family-owned enterprise has since diversified into other businesses, but Gujarat Samachar continues to be published from its original press at Khanpur in old Ahmedabad.

Shreyansbhai told The Indian Express that earlier, during Operation Sindoor, the X handles of Gujarat Samachar were suspended. “I don’t know why this was done.”

The ED case, sources said, concerns alleged share manipulation by Lok Prakashan, publisher of Gujarat Samachar, and Bahubali, among others. “Even the I-T raids found multiple irregularities with the functioning of the company and entities associated with it,” a senior ED official said, adding that this is why “Shah’s custodial interrogation is necessary”.

Punishment to stand up for Truth has been the motto of the BJP government.
Leading Gujarati newspaper Gujarat Samchar has always stood up against power, who so ever it be. However, showing mirror to BJP Government and PM Modi in the recent India – Pakistan fallout has ensured… pic.twitter.com/09gfFouuWc

— Shaktisinh Gohil MP (@shaktisinhgohil) May 15, 2025

Sources said the ED case was based on a probe initiated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) back in 2006 and another in 2016 against the company and its owners. The 2006 case reportedly pertains to a 2003-05 scam where initial public offerings of various companies were irregularly traded.

The SEBI claimed to have found that Lok Prakashan Ltd, Bahubali, Shreyansbhai and Shreyansbhai’s wife Smrutiben, who passed away last month, had provided funds to certain operators for cornering shares reserved for retail investors. The SEBI had issued showcause notices to the Shahs and barred them from dealing in shares of certain companies for a period of time.

The four parties had eventually reached a settlement with the regulatory authority under its consent mechanism. The family and the company were made to pay settlement charges and surrender the gains made from the trading in question. Bahubali himself paid Rs 17.6 lakh as settlement charges and Rs 25 lakh as disgorgement (surrender of gains) amount. Lok Prakashan paid Rs 1 crore as settlement charges and Rs 1.43 crore as disgorgement amount.

मोदी जी ने हाल ही में एक इंटरव्यू में कहा था — “Criticism is the soul of Democracy”

गुजरात समाचार एक 93 वर्ष पुरानी संस्था है, जिसके वरिष्ठ संस्थापक, श्री बाहुबली भाई शाह जी को ED से गिरफ़्तार करवाकर मोदी जी ने सिद्ध किया है — Arresting critics is the first sign of a scared…

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) May 16, 2025

In addition to his role at Gujarat Samachar, Bahubali holds directorships in several companies. He maintains a substantial stake in Lok Prakashan Ltd, with a direct shareholding of 22.79%. Along with Shreyansbhai’s holdings, the Shah family controls a majority stake in the company.

In a post on X Friday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said “arresting critics is the first sign of a scared dictator”. “Whoever raises voice against this government, and who does not compromise with BJP, will have to go to jail,” he posted.

Congress MP and Gujarat party chief Shaktisinh Gohil said: “The Gujarat Samachar newspaper has always stood against power, no matter who is in power. However, Modi pulled out his favorite tool kit against Gujarat Samachar, (which) showed the BJP a mirror in the recent India-Pakistan ceasefire.”

Gujarat Congress MLA and working president Jignesh Mevani called the arrest “shameful” and an “act of revenge”.

Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal said that the I-T and ED raids and Bahubali’s arrest were “not a coincidence”. “This is a sign of the BJP’s arrogance, which wants to silence every voice that speaks the truth, and asks questions.”

The Shah family said that Bahubali, who complained of uneasiness after his arrest, was taken to V S Hospital first, and later shifted to Zydus Hospital on their insistence. Zydus sources said that Bahubali was brought in late Thursday and “is currently in the ICU”.

In the order granting him interim bail, Principal District and Sessions Judge & Special Designated Judge (PMLA), Ahmedabad (Rural), Kamal Sojitra said Bahubali was being given the relief on “medical and humanitarian grounds”, on the basis of an application moved by Amam Shah. The court set the hearing for a regular bail application for May 31.

With inputs by Brendan Dabhi, Parimal Dabhi