Brazen assault on democratic freedoms: Congress slams arrest of Ahmedabad journalist

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday termed as "brazen assault on democratic freedoms" the arrest of a journalist in Ahmedabad on the grounds that he possesses confidential files. It alleged that the "real crime" is occurring at the uppermost echelons of the Gujarat government for the benefit of Adani Group.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said Mahesh Langa, a senior journalist working for The Hindu newspaper in Ahmedabad, has been charged with having official files of the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB).

"This has been done clearly to divert attention from the scandalous manner in which the GMB has been forced to bestow special favours to Modani at a huge cost to the public exchequer," he alleged.

The arrest of Langa on the grounds that he possesses confidential files is a "brazen Modani assault on democratic freedoms", Ramesh said.

The real crime is occurring at the uppermost echelons of the Gujarat government, he alleged.

This is why a comprehensive Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation into the "Modani affair" is required, Ramesh said.

"Aap chronology samajhiye: Sometime in early 2024, Adani Ports asked the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) to extend the period of concession for private ports on a Build-Operate-Own-Transfer (BOOT) basis from the present 30 years to 75 years. This would go well beyond the maximum permissible period of 50 years," he said.

"On March 12, 2024, the GMB met and recommended that (i) more bids be invited for port assets and operations; (ii) financial terms with existing operator (that is, Adani Ports) be re-negotiated; and (iii) differentiated rate structures for ports be developed and applied," he said.

A few days later, the GMB’s recommendations were rejected by the Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB) and by the chief minister himself, Ramesh said, adding that decks were cleared for Adani Ports to get control over Mundhra, Hazira and Dahej ports for 75 years.

All these facts came tumbling out in the public domain on August 14, Ramesh added.

He said the state's Finance Department then asked for some clarifications from the GMB on the amount of royalty revenue payable to the state by Adani Ports after the existing concession period expires in 2027-2028.

"GMB's initial estimate of payment to be made to the state by Adani Ports was around Rs. 1700 crore per year while the company claimed it was just Rs. 394 crores per year," he said.

Officers were then transferred, and numbers were reworked in a manner convenient to the company, Ramesh said.

"The matter is presently resting with the finance department. Let us see what happens next," he said.

"Here are at least two serious consequences of this daylight robbery -- Adani Ports will secure a monopoly on Gujarat's port sector, harming market competition, and driving up prices for the common man. Adani Ports will see its valuation rise and borrowing costs fall," he said.

By failing to open up the process to a renegotiation or competitive bidding, the government of Gujarat will lose crores of rupees in revenues, Ramesh said.