Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Gujarat High Court on Monday dismissed a plea filed by journalist Mahesh Langa seeking quashing of an FIR filed against him for allegedly stealing “highly sensitive and confidential documents” belonging to Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB).
The court of Justice Divyesh Joshi said that prima facie, the involvement of the petitioner in committing the crime was made out from the material collected by the investigating officer during the probe. “Moreover, the investigation is at a nascent stage and it would not be proper on the part of this court to exercise its inherent powers in favour of the petitioner at this stage,” the order said. The court noted that “highly sensitive and confidential documents of Gujarat Maritime Board, which are not even provided to any person under Right to Information Act”, were recovered and seized from the petitioner’s premises.
The petitioner sought quashing of the FIR lodged against him and an unidentified official of GMB under BNS sections pertaining to theft, criminal conspiracy, bribing a public servant and criminal misconduct by a public servant as well as provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act. As per the prosecution, the Ahmedabad Crime Branch had seized documents belonging to GMB from Langa and lodged an FIR against him and an unknown person on October 7, 2024 after the inquiry revealed these were given to the accused by a GMB employee.
The seizure was made when police searched Langa’s premises in connection with another FIR filed by Ahmedabad Crime Branch against various firms for alleged creation of bills without supply to avail Input Tax Credit and fake GST registration. Langa was booked as he was proprietor of one such firm, DA Enterprise.
Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
