Punitive action against journalists for doing their work is worrisome: Editors Guild on FIR against Mahesh Langa

On October 22, Gandhinagar Police filed an FIR against Langa in the GMB case.

Several other press organisations, including the Press Club of India, the Indian Women’s Press Corps, Delhi Union of Journalists, Press Association, and the Kerala Union of Working Journalists also issued a joint statement in the matter on Monday, pointing out that Langa was arrested in the GST fraud case despite his name not being mentioned in the primary FIR. The organisations further called upon the Press Council of India to “step in and perform its mandate of safeguarding the freedom of the press.”

According to the EGI statement: “The Editors Guild of India has noted with concern the registration of a second FIR against Mr Mahesh Langa…for allegedly possessing some ‘confidential documents’… Journalists are often required to access and review sensitive documents in the course of their work, and initiating punitive action against them for doing their work is worrisome.”

Referring to the FIR in the GST fraud case, the statement read: “The Guild is aware that Mr Langa has already been in detention over complaints regarding certain GST violations in his personal capacity before the second FIR was filed.”

It further stated: “EGI hopes that Mr Langa will not be deprived of fair and speedy justice. It is important that the Gujarat Police disclose details about the second set of accusations levelled against him over possessing the confidential documents. That the second FIR is not accessible to the public online, since the police have reportedly put it under the ‘sensitive category’, is of grave concern.”

The statement concluded with, “The Editors Guild stands for freedom of the press and reiterates the need to create a conducive environment across the country that allows all journalists to pursue the professional duties responsibly.”

The statement by the EGI came two days after Suresh Nambath, editor of The Hindu, in a series of public posts on his X account, urged the Gujarat Police to drop charges against Langa.

The joint statement, meanwhile, stated: “We, the undersigned journalist organisations, condemn the registration of a second FIR by the Gujarat Police against senior journalist Mahesh Langa in a span of less than a month…He was arrested early this month by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch in an alleged case of GST fraud even though he was not mentioned by name in the primary FIR.”

It further said, “It is shocking that the mere possession of documents can be used by the state to register an FIR against the citizen and, in this case, a journalist of considerable standing. It is axiomatic that journalists will, due to the nature of their profession and in the pursuance of public interest, be in possession of all kinds of material including documents accessed from various sources. To implicate and incriminate media persons for mere possession of documents is tantamount to a fundamental assault on the profession itself.”

The organisations concluded with: “We appeal and demand that the FIR be withdrawn and harassment caused to Mahesh Langa be ceased forthwith. We also call upon the Press Council of India to step in and perform its mandate of safeguarding the freedom of the press.”

Notably, this is the second joint statement issued by these groups, with the first one being released on October 10.