The Supreme Court has directed the Manipur government to send the entire 48-minute audio clip purportedly containing former chief minister N Biren Singh’s admission of involvement in the 2023 ethnic violence to the National Forensic Science Laboratory (NFSL) in Gujarat for a fresh examination.
A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Alok Aradhe on Wednesday asked the NFSL to examine the authenticity of the audio recording and ascertain whether the voice in it matched that of Biren Singh. The court directed the laboratory to submit its findings in a “sealed cover”.
The direction came after earlier forensic examinations failed to establish the authenticity of the clip, which two Manipur-based non-governmental organisations have claimed contains Biren Singh’s voice.
During the previous hearing, the Gujarat NFSL informed the court that the portion of the audio clip sent to it was “tampered with” and not scientifically fit for voice comparison. The petitioners, including the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust, alleged that the Manipur Police had forwarded only short and edited clips to the forensic laboratory.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Manipur government, told the court that the petitioners had not provided the complete audio recording despite repeated requests. She said the full clip was submitted only after the last hearing on December 15, adding that the state was now willing to forward it again to the NFSL for fresh analysis.
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Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioners, said the matter had been listed on at least 10 occasions and that the government was aware of the contents of the 48-minute recording. He said the audio transcript had already been annexed to the petition.
When asked by the Bench why the entire clip had not been sent earlier, Bhushan said there was no formal direction from the court to do so.
The Bench subsequently directed the petitioners to provide the complete audio recording to the Manipur government for onward transmission to the NFSL.
On December 15, the court had questioned the state for sending only a part of the audio clip. “Please tell us when the entire tape was available with you, then the entire tape ought to have been sent to the NFSL.... Why should you send this limited one?” the court had asked Bhati.
Earlier, in August, the Supreme Court had ordered that the recordings be examined by the Gujarat NFSL after the Guwahati forensic laboratory failed to return a clear finding. Bhushan has claimed that a private laboratory found the full clip to be unedited and said there was a 93 per cent probability that the voice belonged to Biren Singh.
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