<p>Ahmedabad: A city civil and sessions court on Saturday rejected the bail application of senior journalist Mahesh Langa in connection with alleged GST fraud case.</p><p>"...this court is of the opinion that the offence alleged against the applicant is serious in nature in which applicant has fraudulently obtained GST credit of Rs 6,61,416/- and the offence being an economic one, which affects the economy of the nation, the applicant is not entitled for bail under section 439, CrPC," additional sessions judge Hemang Girish Pandya said in his order.</p><p>The court also didn't consider Langa's offer that he was willing to deposit Rs7 lakh against the alleged tax evasion. The state opposed the move saying that "departmental proceedings are yet to be concluded. Hence, the exact amount of tax evasion is yet to be decided".</p><p>This is the first FIR registered against Langa which led to his arrest. Since his arrest on October 8, two more FIRs have been registered, including one in Gandhinagar for possession of "sensitive documents" and the third one with Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) of allegedly cheating a news agency's owner of Rs 28.</p>.Out on bail, industrialist accused in Morbi bridge collapse 'honoured', weighed against modak in Gujarat.<p>Seeking bail, Langa's lawyer Anand Yagnik argued that prima facie, no offence was made out even if allegations in the FIR are taken at face value. He argued that there was a delay of 17 months in filing the FIR and besides, he was willing to deposit the amount of Input Tax Credit which is alleged to be fraudulently availed.</p><p>It was argued that the FIR was based on documentary evidence and his custody was not required. Yagnik argued that merely because Rs20 lakh in cash was found from Langa's house, "is no ground to connect the applicant to the offence alleged."</p><p>Yagnik told the court that Langa's arrest was "politically motivated and is only done to make sure that the applicant remains behind bars and doesn't pursue his journalistic activities."</p><p>On the other hand, the prosecution opposed the bail application stating that the applicant "in collusion with other accused hatched a criminal conspiracy and in</p><p>Furtherance of the conspiracy, he prepared false documents through the co-accused in the name of DA Enterprise, obtained a GST number and entered into transaction of Rs.43,35,949/- with a fictitious firm namely Dhruvi Enterprise and obtained G.S.T credit of Rs 6,61,416/."</p><p>Langa had moved sessions court after his application was rejected by a magisterial court. </p>
<p>Ahmedabad: A city civil and sessions court on Saturday rejected the bail application of senior journalist Mahesh Langa in connection with alleged GST fraud case.</p><p>"...this court is of the opinion that the offence alleged against the applicant is serious in nature in which applicant has fraudulently obtained GST credit of Rs 6,61,416/- and the offence being an economic one, which affects the economy of the nation, the applicant is not entitled for bail under section 439, CrPC," additional sessions judge Hemang Girish Pandya said in his order.</p><p>The court also didn't consider Langa's offer that he was willing to deposit Rs7 lakh against the alleged tax evasion. The state opposed the move saying that "departmental proceedings are yet to be concluded. Hence, the exact amount of tax evasion is yet to be decided".</p><p>This is the first FIR registered against Langa which led to his arrest. Since his arrest on October 8, two more FIRs have been registered, including one in Gandhinagar for possession of "sensitive documents" and the third one with Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) of allegedly cheating a news agency's owner of Rs 28.</p>.Out on bail, industrialist accused in Morbi bridge collapse 'honoured', weighed against modak in Gujarat.<p>Seeking bail, Langa's lawyer Anand Yagnik argued that prima facie, no offence was made out even if allegations in the FIR are taken at face value. He argued that there was a delay of 17 months in filing the FIR and besides, he was willing to deposit the amount of Input Tax Credit which is alleged to be fraudulently availed.</p><p>It was argued that the FIR was based on documentary evidence and his custody was not required. Yagnik argued that merely because Rs20 lakh in cash was found from Langa's house, "is no ground to connect the applicant to the offence alleged."</p><p>Yagnik told the court that Langa's arrest was "politically motivated and is only done to make sure that the applicant remains behind bars and doesn't pursue his journalistic activities."</p><p>On the other hand, the prosecution opposed the bail application stating that the applicant "in collusion with other accused hatched a criminal conspiracy and in</p><p>Furtherance of the conspiracy, he prepared false documents through the co-accused in the name of DA Enterprise, obtained a GST number and entered into transaction of Rs.43,35,949/- with a fictitious firm namely Dhruvi Enterprise and obtained G.S.T credit of Rs 6,61,416/."</p><p>Langa had moved sessions court after his application was rejected by a magisterial court. </p>