GUWAHATI: The Supreme Court of India on Thursday, April 30, directed a fresh forensic examination of an audio clip allegedly linking former Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh to the 2023 ethnic violence in the state.
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A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and K. Vinod Chandran issued the direction while hearing a petition filed by the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust (KOHUR), which has sought an independent Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the violence.
Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, told the court that the complete audio clip, over two hours in length, was being placed on record. The court directed that the pen drive containing the recording be shared with the respondents and forwarded to the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) in Gujarat for analysis.
The Bench instructed the NFSU to examine whether the recording had been edited, modified, or tampered with, and to determine if the voice matched admitted samples of Singh.
Earlier, on January 7, the top court had ordered a forensic examination of a 48-minute audio clip, which the NGO claimed indicated Singh’s role in the violence. It had then directed that all available leaked audio be sent to the NFSU in Gandhinagar for a comprehensive analysis.
The court had also expressed concern in December that only select portions of the recordings were initially submitted, noting it was “a little disturbed” by the omission.
In its earlier findings, the NFSU had indicated that the leaked clips showed signs of tampering and were unsuitable for scientific voice comparison. However, the petitioner’s counsel cited a separate forensic analysis suggesting that at least one of the recordings was unedited.
The case relates to the ethnic violence that erupted in Manipur in May 2023 between the Meitei and Kuki communities, which has left over 260 people dead and displaced thousands.
KOHUR has alleged that Singh played a role in the violence, claims that are currently under judicial scrutiny. Singh had resigned as chief minister on February 9 last year.