The Supreme Court on Monday granted interim bail to journalist Mahesh Langa in a money laundering case linked to an alleged financial fraud being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Ahmedabad.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pamcholi directed that the trial be conducted on a day-to-day basis by the special court and made it clear that Langa must not seek any adjournments during the proceedings.
The court also imposed a key restriction, asking Langa not to write or publish any newspaper article concerning the sub judice case against him. The bench cautioned that any violation of the bail conditions could lead to cancellation of the interim bail.
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, strongly opposed the bail plea. He submitted that the allegations involved a journalist extorting money, which, according to the agency, was a serious offence and did not merit the grant of bail.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal represented Langa before the apex court.
The bench has fixed January 6 as the next date of hearing and directed the ED to file a status report on compliance with the bail conditions by the journalist. The court also noted that charges are yet to be framed in the case, in which the ED has cited nine witnesses so far.
Earlier, on July 31, the Gujarat High Court had rejected Langa’s bail plea in the money laundering case, holding that his release could prejudice the prosecution. The ED had arrested Langa on February 25 in connection with the money laundering investigation arising out of an alleged financial fraud. He was initially arrested in October 2024 in a separate GST fraud case.
The money laundering proceedings against Langa originate from two FIRs registered by the Ahmedabad police, alleging offences including fraud, criminal misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, cheating and causing wrongful loss of lakhs of rupees to certain individuals.
