NEW DELHI: First time member of Parliament from Pilibhit Varun Gandhi is in for more trouble with forensic laboratory confirming that the hate speech CDs were not doctored and that the speeches were in his voice.
However, criminal charges against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s MP are yet to be substantiated because he had reportedly refused to give his voice sample to investigating authorities in Pilibhit, a top state police official said.
“We have received the report of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and it confirms that it is Varun’s voice. We have approached the Home Department of the state to file a chargesheet,” Pilibhit’s superintendent of police said.
Three criminal cases are registered against Varun for the hate speeches he delivered during his election campaign in Pilibhit parliamentary constituency in March in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
Confirming that the FSL had submitted its report, another official said: “We had sent three recordings of Varun’s speeches to the Chandigarh-based (FSL). It is only a matter of formality to match his voice sample with that in the recordings.”
“There were video recordings of the speeches too,” he said, claiming that Varun had refused to give his voice sample every time he was approached by an investigating officer.
According to the Pilibhit police, three criminal cases were registered against Varun. While the first one, relating to the anti-Muslim speech he delivered at a public rally in Barkhera village of Pilibhit district on March 8, was registered on March 17, the second case was registered over the same incident at the behest of the Election Commission which took serious cognizance of that speech. Another reported hate speech delivered by Varun at Desh Nagar locality of Pilibhit town on March 7 was registered on March 19.
Besides the FSL report, the state police also have an array of evidence, like affidavits and recorded statements of 20 people. Varunn is currently out on bail.
Reacting over the FSL report, the Congress party claimed that the report has vindicated its stand on Varun’s “hate speeches.”
Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said: “The report has confirmed what this whole country has believed from day one — that Varun Gandhi, when he was uttering those hateful sentences, belittling and reducing the minority, was indeed reflecting the core ideology and the voice which emanates from the soul of the Sangh Parivar.”
— With input from agencies
