The Enforcement Directorate late on Thursday arrested Gujarat Samachar owner Bahubali Shah, prompting cries of political vendetta.
The newspaper is owned by Bahubali and his brother Shreyansh.
Gujarat Congress leader Jignesh Mevani called it “extremely shameful”.
“The ED today arrested the owner of Gujarat's biggest newspaper Gujarat Samachar, Tantri Bahubali Shah, which is extremely shameful! We stand with Gujarat Samachar! This act has been done with the intention of taking revenge for the way this newspaper has criticised Modi Shah's policies for the last 25 years!” Mevani wrote on his social media along with a video.
The arrest follows ED and income tax raids at the offices and homes of the Shah brothers.
Sheela Bhatt, veteran Gujarati journalist and Editors Guild of India member, wrote on X: “This is a serious step taken by the government. The reasons of arrests are not clear, yet. After the arrest Bahubalibhai was taken to government run V.S. Hospital for check up, his health condition deteriorated so he was rushed to Zydus hospital. Right now, Shreyanshbhai is attending to Bahubalibhai in Zydus hospital. Shreyanshbhai told media persons that they will ‘keep on fighting.’ Both brothers have varied business interests besides publication of Gujarat Samachar. Shreyanshbhai is considered one of the sharpest political brains in Gujarat.”
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had flagged what it called the ED’s “pattern” of making allegations against individuals.
“We have seen a number of complaints of ED. This is the pattern – just make allegations without any reference to anything,” Justice Abhay Oka had orally observed during the hearing of the bail plea of a money-laundering accused in the Rs. 2,000-crore Chhattisgarh liquor scam.
While hearing the bail plea of former Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee in November last year, a Supreme Court bench of Justice Bhuyan and Justice Surya Kant had commented on the poor conviction rate of the ED.
On August 6 last year, the junior home minister Nityanand Rai had informed Parliament that of the 5,297 cases registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act from 2014 to 2024, convictions were made in 40 cases and three persons were acquitted.