The Supreme Court has directed the Enforcement Directorate to file its reply within three days on journalist Mahesh Langa’s bail plea in a money laundering case. The matter is now set for further hearing on December 15.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file its reply within three days on the bail plea of journalist Mahesh Langa, who is facing a money laundering case connected to an alleged financial fraud.
The matter was taken up by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
The bench also told senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Langa, that he can submit a rejoinder within two days after the ED files its response. The Supreme Court has listed the case for the next hearing on December 15.
During the brief hearing, Sibal informed the court that the journalist was being targeted with multiple criminal cases. He said Langa was currently dealing with six different cases at once.
In response, the ED’s counsel argued that “the journalist is accused of extortion” and requested a short adjournment since Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was not available at the moment.
Earlier, on September 8, the Supreme Court had issued notices to the Gujarat government and the ED on Langa’s bail plea. While issuing the notices, the bench questioned the nature of allegations and remarked,
“What kind of a journalist is he?”
The bench added that,
“With due respect, there are some very genuine journalists. But there are also people who on their scooter say we are ‘patrakar’ (journalists) and what they actually do everybody knows,”
directing these comments towards Sibal.
Sibal replied that
“these are all allegations.”
He further pointed out that in one FIR, Langa received anticipatory bail, then a second FIR was filed and again anticipatory bail was granted.
However, he is now being accused under a third FIR related to income tax evasion, along with other pending allegations. Sibal also mentioned that there is a larger background behind these cases.
Earlier, on July 31, the Gujarat High Court had rejected Langa’s bail application in the money laundering matter, observing that releasing him on bail at that stage could prejudice the prosecution’s case.
According to the ED, Langa was arrested on February 25 in connection with a money laundering probe linked to a suspected financial fraud. Before this arrest, he had been taken into custody in October 2024 in a GST fraud case.
The money laundering investigation arises from two FIRs registered by the Ahmedabad Police on charges including fraud, criminal misappropriation, breach of trust, cheating, and causing financial loss of several lakhs of rupees to multiple individuals.
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