Supreme Court Grants Interim Bail To Journalist Mahesh Langa In Money Laundering Case

The Supreme Court today granted interim bail to Journalist Mahesh Langa, formerly working in The Hindu, in a money laundering case lodged in connection with two FIRs relating to the offence of cheating. Langa was first arrested on October 7, 2024, in connection with a GST fraud case and was arrested in the money laundering case on February 20, 2025. The bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi was hearing the bail plea by the journalist. While granting the interim bail, the bench directed that the petitioner comply with the following conditions : (1) furnish bail bonds on the instructions of the special court under PMLA; (2) the Special court is directed to take up the case on a day-to-day basis for recording the statements of 9 witnesses; (3) the petitioner and his counsel are directed to extend full cooperation to the Special Court, and no adjournment shall be allowed on the ground that the quashing petition is pending before the High Court; (4) The petitioner shall not publish or write any article in the position as the Assistant Editor of the Newspaper, with respect to the allegations which are sub-judice against him before the Special Judge at Ahmedabad. The petitioner is at liberty to place on record his objections/ any additional material. (5) The ED shall submit a status report with respect to the compliance with the conditions by the petitioner.The bench further directed the Enforcement Directorate to file a status report regarding the compliance of the above conditions by the petitioner. The bench warned that if the interim relief is misused, the order will be recalled.Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appeared for Langa.Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, for the Ed, blamed Langa for the delay in the trial, saying that he was seeking adjournment of the charge-hearing on the ground that his petition seeking quashing of the proceedings was pending. Refuting the submission of the SG, Sibal submitted that the ED was not supplying the documents sought by the accused. Sibal said that he has produced a list of documents sought and not supplied. SG disputed this assertion.Sibal argued that the twin bail conditions of Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act were not applicable as the money involved did not cross the Rs 1 crore threshold. SG argued that the amount involved crossed 1 crore. Sibal then claimed that the ED has not given any documents to that effect.Sibal said that the complaint is filed only for Rs 68 lakhs, and no predicate offence is also involved. SG said that the documents sought are annexed with the complaint. Sibal, at this juncture, said that those documents do not pertain to more than 1 crore, and that the ED has not shown any document for amount cross 1 crore. The bench said that it will not go into this aspect since it is a subject matter of trial.When the bench proposed to grant interim bail, SG opposed and sought an adjournment till tomorrow, saying "journalists extorting money is a serious offence". The SG said that he can satisfy the bench about the involvement of 1 crore.However, the bench proceeded to grant interim bail. Saying that only way to find out the truth is through the trial, the bench said that it was therefore issuing directions for day-to-day proceedings.SG said that the grant of interim bail is as good as a "final relief". "Considering the facts, I would have wished that your lordships allowed me to raise the arguments. Once he is out, it is as good as SLP is allowed. Journalists extorting money saying if you don't pay I will write against you, is a serious offence," SG said."Industrialists targeting journalists is also serious," Sibal replied. When the bench directed the posting of the matter to January, SG said, "it can be on any date. Now that he is out, it does not make any difference."BackgroundLanga filed the present petition after the Gujarat High Court dismissed his plea for bail, observing that he had a number of antecedents and that while in custody, he had influenced witnesses.Before the High Court, Langa, who was working with The Hindu, had argued that as per PMLA, twin conditions would apply only in those cases where amount involved is more than Rs. 1 crore, whereas, in the present case, the total amount involved in the predicate offences was Rs. 68.68 (Rs. 28.68 Lakhs mentioned in FIR No.1 + Rs.40 Lakhs mentioned in FIR No.2) which is less than Rs.1 crore. Therefore, the rigors of twin conditions under Section 45 would not come into play.However, the Court rejected his argument and said that threshold of Rs.1 crore not having been crossed, by itself, would not entitle him to be enlarged on bail as a matter of right. It was further noted that there were various cases lodged against Langa and with respect to Rs. 20 lakhs seized from his house, there were contradictory statements given by him, his wife and sister-in-law. Case Details : MAHESHDAN PRABHUDAN LANGA Versus STATE OF GUJARAT AND ANR., SLP(Crl) No....

Supreme Court Grants Interim Bail To Journalist Mahesh Langa In Money Laundering Case

Anmol Kaur Bawa

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