Hindustan Times has got hold of a copy of a report issued by Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) on voice samples of Sharjeel Imam. In the report, CFSL concluded that voice samples of Jawaharlal Nehru University student Sharjeel Imam matched with the video clips of his speeches on the campuses of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University. He is facing sedition charges under Indian Penal Code 124A for his said speeches. Police also added charges of mobilising people to block roads in the case against him. The report said, “The voices marked exhibit Q-1(S) & Q-2(S) are the probable voices of the person (Sharjeel Imam), whose specimen voice is marked Q-1(s).”
Sharjeel’s voice appears to match speech clips: Forensicshttps://t.co/rIhd0bj72H pic.twitter.com/P8oUH04PjK
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On Saturday, the Crime Branch of Delhi Police submitted the said report along with transcripts and video files of Imam’s speeches in a city court. It is believed that this report, along with the findings of the Police during the investigation, will form crucial evidence against Imam. He was allegedly delivering inflammatory speeches on the campuses of Jamia and AMU campuses. The Police have reported that his speeches played a vital role in the instigating violence outside Jamia on 13th and 15th December last year.
Imam refused to give samples
According to the Police, Imam at first refused to give his voice samples. He was ordered by the court on 12 February to provide his samples for examination. The report uses the word “probable” which is a technical term used by scientists, said Additional Commissioner Ashok Chand. He said that the report used the words “potential match” because there was ambient noise in the video clips.
If the voice did not match, the report would have clearly mentioned that the voice in videos does not match with Imam’s voice samples. The Delhi Police has said that the report is “conclusive enough” to establish that Imam did give speeches on 13th and 15th December.
Imam’s lawyer refused to accept the charges
Ahmad Ibrahim, Imam’s lawyer, said that these findings are insignificant. He added that Imam gave a hand-written application to the Patiala House court in which he informed the court that his voice was modulated and he was asked to speak some sentences from the speech. The court said that it would consider his application during the trial. He added, “We will file a bail application as soon as we get a copy of the charge sheet.”
Police filed supplementary chargesheet against Sharjeel in April. He was booked under IPC Sections 124A (sedition) and 153 A (Promoting enmity between different groups) by the Delhi Police. As per the reports Police attached copies of pamphlets about the new Citizenship Amendment Law that they recovered from his laptop. Around 5000 copies of such pamphlets were photocopied and distributed across different mosques in Delhi. Police attached statement of a photocopy shop owner in south Delhi in the case. Sharjeel was arrested by the Police in February.
As Sharjeel Imam had incited people to “cut off” Assam from the rest of the country, Assam police also had filed a case against him. He was shifted from Delhi to Guwahati to face the probe in Assam, and has been lodged in Guwahati central jail. While he was scheduled to be transferred back to Delhi earlier this week, it was delayed as he tested positive for Coronavirus. At present, he is undergoing treatment for the infection in Guwahati.
The Citizen Amendment Act came in force on 10th Jan 2020. The Parliament passed the Act in December. The misinformation and protests against the said bill led to deadly anti-Hindu riots of Delhi.
