The Supreme Court on Monday directed Uttar Pradesh IPS officer Sanjeev Tyagi, now DIG Basti, to provide his voice sample for forensic testing over an audio clip in which he allegedly made derogatory remarks against Muslims, while also quashing the criminal case against the Muslim man who had simply forwarded the clip to him asking whether the voice was his.
The Court quashed the criminal proceedings against Islamuddin Ansari, a 73-year-old Dehradun resident who had privately forwarded the clip to Tyagi in March 2020, when Tyagi was the Superintendent of Police in Bijnor, seeking confirmation of whether the voice was his.
Instead of receiving a reply, Ansari later found himself facing criminal charges filed by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
A bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and K. Vinod Chandran called the action against Ansari “a total abuse of authority and of the process of the Court.”
The judges emphasised that any attempt to harass or pressure Ansari by any authority would entitle him to approach the Supreme Court directly in the same matter.
The bench noted its concern with the circumstances that led to the case: “The petitioner (Ansari), having rightly asked the Superintendent of Police whether the voice, which used very objectionable language, was his, was never given a reply.”
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
