The Supreme Courtdirected that the full 48-minute audio allegedly involving former Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh in the 2023 ethnic violence be sent to the National Forensic Science University (NFSU), Gandhinagar, for forensic examination. The court also instructed that verified voice samples of the former CM be included in the analysis.
A bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K Vinod Chandran instructed the NFSU to complete the examination promptly and submit the findings in a sealed report. “The entire 48-minute conversation, along with the admitted voice recordings of the former CM, and all recordings provided by the petitioner’s counsel, shall be forwarded to NFSU Gandhinagar. The report must be submitted in a sealed cover,” the court said.
Earlier, in November 2025, the NFSU had informed the Supreme Court that the audio clips previously sent appeared tampered and were unsuitable for scientific voice comparison, making it impossible to determine whether the speakers were the same.
The petitioner, Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust, challenged this, alleging that the Manipur Police had only sent edited, shorter clips instead of the complete recording. During the hearing, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioner, said the matter had been listed around ten times with government counsel present each time and insisted that the full transcript and audio had been submitted to authorities.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the state, countered that the complete recording was provided only after the previous hearing and had not been earlier served by the petitioner. Bhushan maintained that authorities had ample opportunity to obtain the full recording during their repeated court appearances and noted that no formal notice had been issued.
Following the arguments, the bench ordered that the complete 48-minute audio be sent to NFSU Gandhinagar for a detailed forensic report.
