Defamation case: Application filed in court for voice sample of Rahul Gandhi

An application for obtaining a voice sample of Rahul Gandhi was filed in an MP-MLA court on Saturday (March 28, 2026) during a hearing in a defamation case against the Congress leader over his alleged objectionable remarks against then BJP president Amit Shah in 2018.

The plaintiff Vijay Mishra’s advocate, Santosh Kumar Pandey, said he filed the application requesting that a voice sample of Mr. Gandhi be collected and sent to a forensic science laboratory for comparison with a CD that has already been submitted to the court.

Rahul Gandhi’s lawyers registered their objections to this demand. The next hearing in the matter is fixed for April 6, Mr. Pandey said.

On February 20, Mr. Gandhi, the Lok Sabha MP from Raebareli, had appeared before the court and recorded his statement, claiming the case was filed against him due to political vendetta.

He had also told the court that the audio and video evidence submitted by the complainant was incorrect and said he would present his own evidence.

In December 2023, the court issued a warrant against Mr. Gandhi after he failed to appear before it. He later surrendered before the court in February 2024 and was granted bail on two surety bonds of ₹25,000 each.

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The hearing was deferred on Friday (March 27) due to a holiday on Ram Navami.

Mr. Pandey said that during the previous hearing, the complainant’s side had filed an application seeking verification of audio and video evidence of the alleged statements made by Gandhi by matching them with his original voice.

The case stems from Mr. Gandhi’s alleged objectionable remarks against Shah during the 2018 Karnataka election campaign. Following the remarks, Vijay Mishra, a resident of Hanumanganj under Kotwali Dehat police station area in Sultanpur, filed the defamation complaint.