New Delhi, Dec 15 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Monday granted interim bail to journalist Mahesh Langa in a money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice Vipul M Pancholi granted relief to Langa, subject to strict conditions.
As part of the interim bail, the Court restrained him from writing any article concerning the allegations against him. The Bench also directed the special court to conduct the trial on a day-to-day basis for recording the statements of the remaining nine witnesses.
The Court further directed The Hindu journalist to extend full cooperation with the trial and clarified that he shall not seek any adjournment on the ground that his petition seeking quashing of proceedings is pending.
The Enforcement Directorate was asked to file a status report on compliance with these directions. The matter has been listed for further consideration on January 6, 2026.
Langa was arrested by the Gujarat Police in 2024 in connection with alleged Goods and Services Tax (GST) fraud and was subsequently booked in other related cases. Later, the ED registered a case against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), treating the GST case as the predicate offence.
During the hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal appeared for Langa and pressed for bail in the money laundering case. The plea was strongly opposed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who alleged that the journalist was involved in extortion.
“A journalist is found to be extorting money. We want to file an additional counter. They say if you don’t pay, I will print something,” Mehta submitted.
Countering the allegations, Sibal argued that the claims of a Rs 68 crore fraud were exaggerated. “They say Rs 68 crore fraud, and it is not even Rs 68 lakh,” he said, adding that no charge sheet had been filed in the predicate offence forming the basis of the PMLA case.
He also questioned the allegation that Langa was influencing witnesses and submitted that several documents had not been supplied to the accused.
“There is no supplementary complaint. Give me the documents on this one crore. You cannot have it both ways,” Sibal argued, also stating that Langa had been in custody since October 2024 for non-violent offences.
Considering that only nine witnesses remain to be examined, the Court granted interim bail. Following the order, a brief exchange took place between Sibal and Mehta over the allegations of extortion.
While Mehta asserted that there was no political agenda behind the prosecution, Sibal remarked on what he termed the targeting of journalists.
Intervening, the Chief Justice emphasised that the trial should not be delayed and cautioned that Langa should not misuse his position as a journalist. Sibal responded that bail could always be cancelled in case of any violation. Earlier, the Gujarat High Court had denied bail to Langa on July 31.
SC grants interim bail to journalist Mahesh Langa in PMLA case
