Delhi Speaker seeks CBI probe into Punjab FSL report on Atishi's video

New Delhi: Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta on Saturday said he will seek a CBI probe into Punjab’s Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), escalating the Atishi video controversy days after a Jalandhar court ordered the “doctored” clip to be blocked and removed based on a forensic report.

At a press conference, Gupta claimed the Delhi FSL has concluded that the January 6 Delhi Assembly video is “genuine and unaltered”, and that the word “guru” appears verbatim in the audio and transcript. He rejected the Punjab FSL findings, which had earlier said the clip with subtitles was “doctored”, leading to an FIR in Jalandhar and the court’s takedown directions.

On January 15, a court in Jalandhar ordered immediate blocking and removal of the video from social media platforms, observing that further circulation could lead to social disharmony and aggravate communal tension. In its order, the court said the Punjab FSL report established that the “video with subtitle is ‘doctored’” and that the material, as presented, was likely to incite public disorder.

The court directed Meta platforms (Instagram and Facebook), X and Telegram to remove the specified URLs within 24 hours and to preserve records related to the content.

The police case stems from a complaint alleging circulation of an “edited” and “doctored” video of AAP leader and former Delhi chief minister Atishi, along with “disturbing and ill-intention captions” on X and Meta. Punjab Police had said the clip — downloaded from a social media account of Delhi minister Kapil Mishra — was sent to the Punjab FSL in SAS Nagar (Mohali) for examination.

The controversy triggered a political row, with the BJP alleging Atishi insulted Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur, while Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann claimed the clip was manipulated with a false subtitle and that the word “guru” was not uttered in the original audio.

Gupta on Saturday said the “conflicting” forensic reports warranted an independent inquiry, and indicated he would move to get the CBI to examine the Punjab FSL. He also said the Delhi Assembly has initiated privilege proceedings linked to the circulation of the clip, and claimed notices have been issued to senior Punjab police officials over the handling of what he termed the House’s official recording.

The Punjab Congress has separately claimed that an FIR has been registered against its MLAs Sukhpal Khaira and Pargat Singh for sharing the clip.