Journalist Mahesh Langa, who is in jail for his alleged involvement in a Goods and Service Tax-related scam, has moved the Gujarat High Court challenging the validity of a second first information report registered in the same case in Rajkot, reported Bar and Bench on Tuesday.

Langa is a journalist with The Hindu in Ahmedabad.

The FIR was registered by the Rajkot Crime Branch on November 27 against the owners of 14 firms, including Ahmedabad-based DA Enterprise, reported PTI. The action came on a complaint by Jay Prakash Singh, the superintendent of the Central Goods and Services Tax office in Rajkot.

Singh alleged that the firms availed of input tax credits using fake bills and documents, which resulted in a loss of Rs 61.3 lakh to the government.

While Langa has not been named in the FIR, it is alleged that he operated DA Enterprise. The firm is owned by Mahesh Langa’s cousin Manoj Langa. The journalist’s wife is a silent partner in the firm and has no rights to conduct transactions or access bank accounts, it is alleged.

Manoj Langa had earlier allegedly claimed that he was instructed by Mahesh Langa to carry out fraudulent transactions.

On Monday, Justice Sandeep Bhat sought the response of the Goods and Services Tax department on Langa’s plea and posted the matter for hearing on January 7, reported Bar and Bench.

The Economic Offences Wing of the Rajkot Crime Branch on Saturday took Mahesh Langa into a four-day remand after arresting him in the case, according to The Indian Express.

This was the fifth case in which the journalist has been accused.

He was arrested by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch on October 7 in an alleged Goods and Services Tax-related scam. The police have alleged that a company named Dhruvi Enterprise created six firms from a single Permanent Account Number to fraudulently receive input tax credit.

One of the companies named in the FIR is DA Enterprises.

On October 22, the police registered the second case against Langa for allegedly possessing confidential government documents pertaining to the Gujarat Maritime Board. The documents were recovered from him during his arrest in the first case.

Press bodies have urged the police to withdraw the case against Langa for the alleged possession of confidential government documents.

On October 29, Langa was booked on charges of allegedly cheating a businessman in Ahmedabad.

The complainant, Pranay Shah, who runs an advertising firm, alleged that Langa had offered to help publish “positive news” about him by leveraging his political and bureaucratic contacts.

On the same day, the Ahmedabad Zonal Office of the Enforcement Directorate announced it had filed a case of money laundering against Langa and others, reported The Indian Express.