A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking a forensic voice analysis in connection with an alleged sexual misconduct case involving a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer. The matter is scheduled for hearing on Monday.
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The PIL has been filed by Supreme Court lawyer Mr. Nikhil Saraf, who moved the court after the Punjab State Commission for Women and the state Home Department failed to act on his previous representations. The Police Complaints Authority had earlier dismissed the case on technical grounds.
Represented by advocate Mr. Amit Sharma, the petitioner has submitted two audio clips on a USB drive, requesting a scientific examination to determine whether the voice is genuine or artificially generated. The petition also seeks to compare the voice in the recordings with that of the IPS officer allegedly involved.
The audio clips, which surfaced in April, form the crux of the case. In one clip, a male voice is allegedly heard negotiating paid sex, while the second purportedly features the same voice instructing a woman to send an explicit photo. Mr. Saraf has claimed that the voice matches that of the senior police officer.
The PIL contends that relevant state authorities have failed to take appropriate action. It also criticizes a gag order issued earlier by a district magistrate, alleging that the order was passed without verification of the authenticity of the clips. Notably, the High Court has already stayed the gag order in a separate proceeding.
Meanwhile, a former woman constable, who was previously arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, was granted bail by a Bathinda court on Thursday. Media reports have linked her case contextually to the ongoing PIL.
The petition further seeks a direction to the Director General of Police to disclose the name, rank, and current posting of the officer allegedly identified by the former constable. Mr. Saraf argues that the case raises serious concerns over institutional accountability and cites earlier judicial comments on systemic failures in handling misconduct by public officials.
The petitioner has urged the court to mandate a certified forensic examination of the audio recordings and to pass further directions based on the findings of the analysis.
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