Ayodhya/Sultanpur: A Sultanpur MP/MLA court on Saturday rejected a plea seeking a voice sample of Rae Bareli MP Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case filed by a BJP functionary.The court posted the matter for the next hearing on May 11.The plea, filed by BJP member Vijay Mishra through his counsel Santosh Kumar Pandey, sought Gandhi’s voice sample for a forensic test to compare it with an audio clip.Magistrate Shubham Verma, while rejecting the application, observed that since Rahul Gandhi has not denied that the voice in the CD submitted in court is his, there appears to be no necessity for voice sample matching through the forensic science laboratory.After the petition was dismissed, Pandey said they would file a revision plea before the sessions court against the order.The matter dates back to 2018 when Mishra filed a defamation suit over Gandhi’s alleged objectionable remarks targeting Union home minister Amit Shah while campaigning for the Karnataka Assembly elections.After five years of legal proceedings, the court issued a warrant against Gandhi in Dec 2023.Rahul surrendered before the court in Feb 2024 and was granted bail on two sureties of Rs 25,000 each by a special magistrate.On July 26 last year, the Congress leader recorded his statement before the court, claiming innocence and calling the case a political conspiracy.Earlier this year, multiple hearings were postponed due to a strike by lawyers and the ill health of Gandhi’s counsel.
