Supreme Court Orders Forensic Analysis of Audio Ties to Former Manipur CM

Supreme Court Directs Forensic Examination

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court mandated that the complete audio recording allegedly connecting former Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh to the state's ethnic violence, along with his voice samples, be submitted to the National Forensic Science University for analysis.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and K Vinod Chandran instructed the Gandhinagar laboratory to prioritize the examination and deliver its findings in a sealed envelope.

This directive came during the hearing of a petition from the Kuki Organization for Human Rights Trust, which is advocating for an independent inquiry into the audio clips that reportedly feature Singh's voice.

The recordings, believed to be from 2023, allegedly capture Singh claiming responsibility for the origins of the conflict, asserting that he disregarded Union Home Minister Amit Shah's directive against the use of explosives during the unrest and protected individuals who had seized numerous weapons from police armories.

The court's order specified that the entire 48-minute dialogue, along with all accepted audio recordings and other materials provided by the petitioner, should be sent to the forensic lab.

In November, the petitioner informed the court that the Manipur Police had only sent brief and edited audio segments to the lab instead of the complete recording.

The Kuki group made this claim in an affidavit responding to a report from the laboratory in October, which indicated that the audio clips had been altered and were unsuitable for voice comparison.

The lab had previously stated that it could not determine whether the voice in the recordings belonged to Singh.

During the proceedings, advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the Kuki organization, noted that the case had been listed approximately ten times, and the full transcript of the 48-minute conversation, along with the audio, had been submitted with the petition.

The court subsequently inquired about the government's failure to forward the complete audio clip.

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati explained that the authorities had only received the full recording after the last hearing in December and that the petitioner had not submitted it earlier.

Bhushan countered that the authorities could have requested the recording from the petitioner during their multiple court appearances.

When questioned by the bench about the absence of the recording, Bhushan stated that there had been no formal request to provide it.

The bench then ordered that the entire audio clip be sent to the forensic laboratory.

Since the ethnic clashes erupted between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities in May 2023, at least 260 individuals have lost their lives, and over 59,000 have been displaced. Violence has continued to flare up periodically into 2024 and 2025.

In February 2025, President’s Rule was imposed after Singh resigned as chief minister amid accusations from Kuki-Zomi-Hmar groups that his handling of the violence was biased and that he had incited majoritarian sentiments.