Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court Wednesday reprimanded the Punjab government for ignoring its directions in connection with a controversial audio clip related to the December 2025 zila parishad polls.
A division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry ordered the forensic investigation of the audio clip—which purportedly indicates attempts to vitiate the polls—to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh. Something “the state was expected to do”, said the bench.
In the audio clip that went viral during the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections in December, Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police Varun Sharma is purportedly heard telling police officers that “excesses” are expected in the elections but these should specifically happen only outside nomination centres.
The SSP seemingly gives directions to the effect that if anyone is to be stopped from filing their nomination papers it should be done outside the designated centres, which could be at their home, in their village or on the streets.
In the same conversation, members of his team are purportedly heard saying they were in constant touch with the political leadership from whom they were taking instructions.
The alleged conversation took place on a conference call between Sharma and DSP-level officers. The clip was made public by Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal, who posted it on his X account, along with transcripts in Punjabi.
🚨ਜਿੱਥੇ ਅਕਾਲੀ ਮਿਲਣ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੇ ਨਾਮਜਦਗੀ ਪੱਤਰ ਪਾੜ੍ਹ ਦਿਓ: Punjab Police 🚨
ਲੋਕਤੰਤਰ ਦਾ ਘਾਣ ਕਰਕੇ, ਜ਼ਿਲ੍ਹਾ ਪ੍ਰੀਸ਼ਦ ਅਤੇ ਬਲਾਕ ਸੰਮਤੀ ਚੋਣਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਬੇਸ਼ਰਮੀ ਨਾਲ ਲੁੱਟਣ ਦੀ ਤਿਆਰੀਆਂ ਸਬੰਧੀ Patiala Police ਦੀ ਕੱਲ੍ਹ ਰਾਤ ਨੂੰ ਹੋਈ MOST SENSITIVE Conference Call ਦੀ ਸਾਰੀ recording ਆਪ ਸਭ ਸੁਣੋ:
"ਅੱਜ Police… pic.twitter.com/5B98XBU6aY
— Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) December 4, 2025
An FIR was registered by Punjab Police and an SIT was constituted after multiple Public Interest Litigations (PILs) were filed in the High Court by senior Akali, Congress and BJP leaders demanding an investigation by the CBI into the possibility of Sharma and his team vitiating the election process on behalf of the AAP leadership in the state. The Patiala SSP was also sent on leave for a week following the incident.
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‘If you have nothing to hide…’
The high court had in its 10 January order said the state is “expected” to get the authenticity of the viral audio clip examined from a neutral laboratory outside Punjab.
However, during the resumed hearing of the case Wednesday, the State Election Commission told the court that the audio clip in question had been sent for examination to a forensic lab in Mohali, Punjab.
“Why have our directions of January 10 not been followed? And if a decision was taken not to follow these directions, where is the justification for that?” asked Chief Justice Nagu. “If you (government) have nothing to hide, you should be taking the lead in getting the audio clip examined from a neutral lab.”
Reading out the latest status report of the government, the State Election Commission told the court that an audio clip had been sent in a pen drive to the state forensic lab which had sought the original storage device in order to give a report about its authenticity. The government’s counsel added that since the audio clip had first emerged on Sukhbir’s X handle, he had been asked to depose before the team investigating the case.
The counsel said Sukhbir had not appeared before the investigating team and the government had now contacted X for more details on his post including IP addresses.
Chief Justice Nagu was told by the counsel of the Akali Dal that while the complainants were being called to depose by the investigating officers, no attempt was made to take voice samples of the officers purportedly heard in the clip.
“We are demanding a thorough probe into the contents of the audio clip. We are the complainants in the case. Only investigation will reveal if we are right or wrong,” said the counsel for the petitioner.
Welcoming the order of the high court, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief spokesperson and legal cell head advocate Arshdeep Singh Kler said the Punjab government, represented by the advocate general, had no answers to high court questions as to why its orders were not complied with.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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