Cash-for-vote scam: ACB plans to test Chandrababu Naidu’s voice sample

Hyderabad: The Anti-Corruption Bureau has a plan of action in place if Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and cash-for-vote accused A. Revanth Reddy refuse to give voice test samples.

The ACB has decided to dig up voice records of Mr Naidu from the undivided AP Legislative Assembly records or any other authentic government library to compare it with the voice on the tapes.

However forensic experts say that it would not be easy as the test samples should contain exact words for comparing with the voice spectrographs on tape.

An ACB official said, “If the accused or suspects refuse to take the voice test, it would go against them under the Indian Evidence Act. Even if they don’t give the test voice we can get the records from the Legislative Assembly or any other public record and compare them.”

A forensic official of APFSL said, “Collection of sample voice tests shall be done through the court. The accused or suspect have to give consent. If they refuse to give consent, then the burden of proof lies on the accused. However, if it is collected from any other source and compared, it will not be as strong as collecting test samples as there is a possibility of editing.”