Manipur Violence: SC Orders Fresh Forensic Test of Ex-CM Biren Singh Audio
A bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K Vinod Chandran passed the direction in a plea seeking a court-monitored investigation into the audio recordings.
Guwahati: In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed that the entire 48-minute audio recording allegedly implicating former Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh in the 2023 ethnic violence, along with his admitted voice samples, be forwarded to the National Forensic Science University (NFSU), Gandhinagar, for forensic examination.
A bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K Vinod Chandran passed the direction in a plea seeking a court-monitored investigation into the audio recordings. The Court also asked the NFSU to expedite the process and submit its report to the Court in a sealed cover.
The apex court in its order stated, “The entire 48 minutes of the conversation in question along with the admitted voice recordings of the former Manipur chief minister are available…All the voice recordings furnished to the respondents by the learned counsel for the petitioner shall also be included therewith and forwarded to the National Forensic Science University Gandhinagar.”
In November 2025, the National Forensic Science University, Gandhinagar informed the Supreme Court that the audio clips sent to it showed signs of tampering and were not scientifically fit for voice comparison, and that no opinion on similarity or dissimilarity of the speakers could be offered.
The petitioner has disputed that conclusion, alleging that the Manipur Police had earlier forwarded only short, edited clips to the forensic laboratory instead of the complete recording.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust, said the matter had been listed around ten times and government counsel had appeared on each occasion.
He submitted that the petition itself contained the transcript of the full 48-minute conversation and that the audio had been supplied. He argued that the authorities were aware of the complete recording.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the State, said that the state received the full recording only after the last hearing and that the petitioner had not served it earlier.
