BJP MLA Jaikrishn Patel refuses to give voice sample, says ACB's FIR

Jaipur: Bagidora MLA Jaikrishn Patel is not cooperating with the investigation and has refused to provide a voice sample, according to the FIR registered in the case.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) asked both Jaikrishn Patel and his cousin Vijay Kumar Patel, alias Vicky, to submit voice samples, which are crucial for the forensic matching of recorded conversations during the bribe negotiation and acceptance. However, both refused to comply.

The ACB has named five accused in the case and booked them under Sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and Sections 61(2) and 238 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

According to the FIR—a copy of which is with TOI—Patel is accused of demanding Rs 2.5 crore from Ravindra Kumar, a mine operator based in Karauli, in exchange for withdrawing an assembly question related to alleged violations at Kumar's mining operation in Dhawan village, Todabhim tehsil. The amount was negotiated down to Rs 2 crore, and the MLA allegedly agreed to accept it in instalments.

The FIR states that the conversation between the ACB complainant and Patel regarding the bribe began on March 22, when Patel's personal assistant, Rohit Meena, asked the complainant to meet him at Indira Gandhi Nagar. During the meeting, Meena initially mentioned "2.5," which the complainant assumed to mean Rs 2.5 lakh. However, Patel later clarified that the demand was actually for Rs 2.5 crore.

In the last week of April, the complainant handed over Rs 1 lakh to Patel, which helped the ACB verify the complaint. On May 4, the ACB laid a trap during which Patel and Vicky reportedly discussed, inspected, and accepted Rs 20 lakh in cash from the complainant at the MLA's official residence. The bag containing the cash was later handed over in the parking area and subsequently concealed, a fact that the FIR says has been prima facie established.

The ACB stated that Patel abused his public office to obtain illegal gratification, constituting offences under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018), and Sections 61(2) and 238 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.