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.”
The Court then ordered that Tyagi’s voice sample be examined and matched with the audio clip at the State Forensic Science Laboratory in Hyderabad, Telangana.
During the hearing, the Uttar Pradesh government informed the bench that it had already moved a petition before the trial court seeking withdrawal of the case against Ansari.
The incident dates back to March 2020, when Ansari forwarded the disputed audio file to SP Tyagi. Receiving no response, Ansari soon found himself implicated in an FIR registered at the Kotwali Shahar police station, Bijnor, on March 29, 2020.
The FIR, filed against “unknown persons,” invoked IPC Section 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) and Section 67 of the IT Act (transmission of obscene material).
The complaint cited the enforcement of the Epidemic Act during COVID-19, claiming that unless “immediate action” was taken against the mobile number, which belonged to Ansari, “peace and public order may be affected due to malicious sentiments in the Muslim community.”
Ansari later stated that on the same day, a police team forcibly entered his Dehradun residence, took him to Bijnor, interrogated him for over five hours, and seized his phone and wallet.
A chargesheet filed on July 7, 2020, specifically named Ansari, accusing him of inciting “rebellion” by circulating messages capable of inflaming religious sentiments among Muslims.
The magistrate court took cognizance and issued summons to him on September 30, 2021.
Ansari then approached the Allahabad High Court, seeking quashing of the case. The High Court rejected his plea on August 13, 2025, prompting him to move the Supreme Court.
Before the Supreme Court, Ansari, represented by advocates Aadil Singh Boparai and Amarjeet Singh, argued that the proceedings amounted to malicious prosecution and harassment, a “counterblast” to his act of questioning a police officer about derogatory comments directed at a minority community.
He further submitted that since he had forwarded the clip privately to the SP and had not circulated it publicly, the “publication” requirement under Section 505 IPC was not met.
The matter will next be heard by the Supreme Court on January 12, 2026.
