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Jaipur court rejects ACB plea to collect Union minister Shekhawat’s voice sample
The Rajasthan Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) sought permission to collect Union jal shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat’s voice sample in connection with its investigation into an alleged attempt to topple the Congress-led state government in 2020
A Jaipur court on Friday dismissed a plea by the Rajasthan Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) challenging a court order that didn’t allow investigators to take the voice sample of Union jal shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in connection with its investigation into an alleged attempt to topple the Congress-led state government in 2020.
On June 10, 2020, Mahesh Joshi, the then chief whip of the Vidhansabha, lodged a report in the ACB that independent MLAs were being lured to topple the elected government in Rajasthan and handed over a pen drive to the agency, claimed to be containing a purported conversation between the then MLAs Bhanwarlal Sharma (late) and Sanjay Jain and Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
It was alleged that in the purported conversation the three were talking about money transactions and toppling the government. Jain was later arrested by the ACB.
Investigating officer Alok Sharma filed an application in the court of the chief judicial magistrate seeking permission to take the voice sample of Union minister Shekhawat, which was rejected by the court on July 15, 2021. The ACB challenged this order in the additional district judge (ADJ) court through a criminal revision petition.
However, additional sessions judge No. I, Jaipur metropolitan II on Friday declined to interfere with the order.
It was argued in the court that the original source of the conversation secured in the pen drive was unknown. It was also statedthat the ACB did not take the voice sample of MLA Bhanwarlal when he was alive.
Commenting on the order of the ADJ court, Shekhawat said that the investigating agencies are working under pressure from the state government.
The trial court had rejected the application for taking his voice sample saying that the court should not be made a tool in this matter. Despite this, under pressure, the government got the ACB to file a criminal revision petition, he said.
