The Hindu editor urges Gujarat police to drop FIR against journalist

In a series of posts on X, Nambath said, “We would like to reiterate that journalists are required to process documents, including those of a confidential nature, in the line of their work. They are guided by the larger public interest in perusing documents that are official or confidential… To file charges against them for possession of such documents is to undermine their journalistic work and their fundamental rights and to subvert the public interest. We urge the Gujarat Police to drop the charges relating to the possession of classified documents against Mahesh.”

Expressing concern at the filing of this FIR against Langa on October 22 at the Sector 7 police station in Gandhinagar for “possession of some documents related to the Gujarat Maritime Board”, Nambath pointed that that the SP, Gandhinagar, had said the next day that the online FIR was not accessible to public as it had been placed in the “sensitive” category. “This is completely unacceptable,” Nambath said in the post.

Asked about his response, Gandhinagar SP Ravi Teja Vasamsetty said, “We have not filed the FIR of our own volition. It has been filed based on a complaint from the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB). It is our duty to investigate the claims.”

SP Vasamsetty said, “We have submitted the FIR to the court and the family can obtain it from there. Further, we have not yet taken any action against the accused in this case. If we do so, we will inform him of the charges against him.”

The second FIR against Langa was filed at the Sector-7 police station of Gandhinagar on October 22 while he was in judicial custody in another case related to the alleged GST fraud.