Ahmedabad court grants anticipatory bail to The Hindu correspondent

A sessions court in Ahmedabad granted anticipatory bail to Mahesh Langa, Gujarat correspondent of The Hindu, in an alleged case of cheating.

The case was filed against him on October 29 while he was in jail in another case.

Allowing the bail, the court said the alleged offence was triable by a Magistrate, the maximum punishment prescribed for it was seven years in prison and “the dispute between the parties is primarily in civil nature, non-payment of money”. The applicant was a resident of Ahmedabad city with deep roots in society and there was no possibility of his fleeing from the court of justice.

Mr. Langa’s counsel, A.J. Yagnik, submitted that there was no prima facie case against him, and he had been falsely implicated. There was no mention of his role in the FIR and he had no criminal antecedents.

The charge of cheating and criminal breach of trust could not run simultaneously as the complainant had to show the mala fide intention on the part of the applicant. Neither in the FIR nor the affidavit such facts were disclosed.

The court observed that the alleged period of cheating was from March 1 to October 29, whereas the FIR was registered on October 29. “Considering the fact that the first informant has not assigned any reason for delay in lodging the complaint, I incline to exercise discretionary power in favour of the present applicant, by allowing the present anticipatory bail, in the present case,” Additional Sessions Judge Hemangkumar Girishkumar Pandya said.