‘He may cause prejudice to the case…’: Gujarat HC dismisses plea by journalist Langa seeking bail in PMLA case

The oral order of the court stated, “Having regard to the facts and material available on record, it would be difficult for this court to record a finding to the effect that the applicant is not guilty of the present offence. Moreover, as stated herein above, the applicant is having number of antecedents and therefore, it is also difficult for this Court to come to the conclusion that the applicant will not commit any offence while on bail. There are all chances that if the applicant is ordered to be enlarged on bail, he may cause prejudice to the case of the prosecution.”

The case of the ED is based on two FIRs filed against Langa at the Detection of Crime Branch, Ahmedabad, on October 10, 2024, for alleged criminal breach of trust and cheating as well as a second FIR lodged on January 21, 2025, at Satellite Police station in Ahmedabad for alleged extortion.

Senior Advocate SN Soparkar and Advocate Anand Yagnik, appearing for Langa, submitted to the court that he had been granted anticipatory bail in DCB Ahmedabad case by the City Civil and Sessions Court, Ahmedabad, on November 25, 2024, and also in the case at Satellite police station by the District and Sessions Court of Ahmedabad on February 11, 2025. “Initially, the FIR at DCB police station was taken as base to register the impugned ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) and thereafter, FIR lodged with Satellite police station was merged into the ECIR,” Langa’s advocate informed the HC.

Langa’s advocates further informed the court that he has been granted anticipatory or regular bail in all six cases against him, including the three offences under the GST Act.

The court order noted AG Trivedi’s submission that Langa, while being behind the bars, “is tutoring the witnesses”. The AG cited the example of witness, Langa’s sister-in-law — who retracted from her statement recorded by the ED on June 18, 2025.

AG Trivedi told the court, “The applicant has an audacity to file an affidavit under the signature of his advocate on July 7, 2025, producing the affidavit of (Langa’s sister in law) wherein she has retracted from her statement… The applicant appears to be on a driver’s seat regulating everything, his father’s account, his wife’s account, his sister-in-law’s account, his brother’s account and has the audacity to say that it may be unaccounted money…”

Arguing about the contentious Rs 20 lakh seized from Langa’s residence and a subsequent transaction of Rs 30 lakh in connection with a property that was under consideration for purchase in the name of Langa’s wife, his advocates submitted that “no predicate offence has been registered in those regards and therefore, these amounts cannot be said to be the proceeds of crime as defined under… PML Act and therefore, the applicant cannot be said to have committed an offence of money laundering as defined in the Act.”

The advocates submitted that the amount, which can be alleged to be proceeds of crime, does not exceed Rs 1 crore and therefore, the rigours of the twin conditions of the Act would not come into play, making Langa eligible for bail under the PML Act. Langa’s counsel also argued that the precedents relied upon by the state to object to the bail plea were cases related to offences involving crores of rupees or drug peddlers and other illegal activities — none of which is involved in Langa’s case.

AG Trivedi submitted before the court that the offence has crossed the threshold limit of Rs 1 crore and “mere grant of anticipatory bail in the predicate offence does not entitle the applicant to be enlarged on bail as a matter of right.”

AG Trivedi submitted to the court that the PMLA leaves “free room for the investigating authority as a complaint can be filed with regard to anything, which is related to proceeds of crime and comes to be noticed during the course of investigation.” He further also submitted that there is “huge discrepancy in the Cash balance and Annual Income of the present applicant and his wife and his father and Agricultural Income of the father of the applicant of the last six years”.