Supreme Court directs UP DIG to give voice sample over old audio clip with ‘communal’ slurs
The SC also quashed proceedings against Islamuddin Ansari, who had sent the clip to Sanjeev Tyagi — the then Bijnor SP — asking him to confirm if it was his voice. The court termed the police action against Ansari "an abuse of their authority".
The Supreme Court on Monday directed Deputy Inspector General of Police, Basti (Uttar Pradesh), Sanjeev Tyagi, to provide his voice sample for forensic examination over an old audio clip in which he purportedly makes derogatory remarks against Muslims.
The court also quashed proceedings against a Dehradun resident, Islamuddin Ansari (73), who had forwarded the clip to Tyagi, who was then the Superintendent of Police in Bijnor, in March 2020, and asked him to verify if it was his voice. The Uttar Pradesh police had later launched criminal proceedings against Ansari.
The bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and K Vinod Chandran termed the police action against Ansari as “totally an abuse of their authority and also the process of the Court”. “We make it clear that if any attempt is made/ action taken by any of the authorities to harass or exert any sort of pressure on the petitioner (Ansari), the petitioner is at liberty to directly move an appropriate application in the present case itself,” it said.
“…We are more concerned with the background in which such a situation arose. The petitioner (Ansari) having asked the Superintendent of Police (Tyagi), and rightly so before making a formal complaint, as to whether the voice purported to be his, disclosing that he had used some very objectionable language, was never replied to. We direct that the voice sample of the then Superintendent of Police, Mr Sanjeev Tyagi, who has been promoted and currently posted as DIG, Basti Range, Uttar Pradesh, for being confirmed with the clip which was forwarded to him by the petitioner, be sent for examination. The said FSL examination would be done at the State FSL, in the State of Telangana, Hyderabad,” the court said.
The bench also directed Ansari to provide the relevant audio clip/ link to the concerned FSL within three weeks. The court directed the Telangana FSL director to “get the examination done under his direct supervision” and to submit the report in a sealed cover by January 31, 2026.
The Uttar Pradesh counsel told the bench that the state has filed a petition before the concerned court seeking withdrawal of the case against Ansari.
The case dates back to March 2020, when Ansari had forwarded the audio file to Tyagi. While Ansari received no response, an FIR was registered at Kotwali Shahar police station in Bijnor on March 29, 2020, against unknown persons for allegedly spreading rumours which would incite feelings of communal enmity, slapping charges under IPC Section 505 (statements conducing public mischief) and IT Act Section 67 (transmitting obscene material in electronic form).
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Listing Ansari’s phone number, the FIR noted that “the Epidemic Act is also in force due to corona disease” and thus “immediate action is necessary against this mobile holder, otherwise peace and public order may be affected due to malicious sentiments in the Muslim community.”
Ansari has alleged that the same day, a police team forcibly entered his residence in Dehradun and took him to Bijnor, where he was interrogated for over five hours, and his phone and wallet were taken away.
A chargesheet was filed before a magistrate court on July 7, 2020, which named Ansari. The chargesheet claimed that a complaint was received at the Kotwali police station against Ansari’s phone number for creating “rebellion by inciting religious sentiments in the Muslim community by sending messages/ posts”.
The court took cognizance and issued summons on September 30, 2021. Ansari then went to the Allahabad High Court, where he challenged the summons and sought quashing of the case. On August 13 this year, the HC rejected Ansari’s plea, following which he moved the Supreme Court.
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Ansari, represented by advocates Aadil Singh Boparai and Amarjeet Singh, had submitted before the SC that the criminal proceedings against him were “nothing but an attempt to harass” him, “a clear instance of malicious prosecution”, as a “counterblast to (Ansari’s) act of questioning a police officer regarding derogatory remarks against a minority community.”
In his petition, Ansari said that he had “merely forwarded an audio clip privately to the SP for verification and did not publish or circulate the same in the public domain, hence the ‘publication’ requirement under Section 505 IPC is not satisfied.”
The SC will hear the case next on January 12, 2026.
Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court
Professional Profile
Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express.
Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare).
Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others.
She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020.
With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram
Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025)
Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles:
High-Profile Case Coverage
She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy.
Signature Style
Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system.
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