The Supreme Court directed the full 48-minute audio allegedly involving former Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh in the 2023 ethnic violence to be sent for forensic examination to the National Forensic Science University (NFSU) in Gandhinagar. The court instructed the inclusion of verified voice samples of the former CM in the analysis, emphasizing the need for a thorough and prompt examination. A bench consisting of Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K Vinod Chandran mandated that the findings be reported in a sealed document.
Previously, in November 2025, the NFSU had reported to the Supreme Court that the audio clips provided appeared tampered, rendering them unsuitable for scientific comparison of the voices, thus preventing any determination regarding the identity of the speakers. The petitioner, Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust, contested this finding, stating that the Manipur Police had only submitted edited and shorter audio clips, rather than the full recording.
During the hearing, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioner, argued that the case had been listed multiple times with government counsel present and claimed full transcripts and audio had been submitted to authorities. In counterarguments, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati contended that the complete recording was only provided after the last hearing and had not been served earlier by the petitioner. Bhushan pointed out that the authorities had various opportunities to obtain the full recording during their repeated court attendances, highlighting that no formal notice had been issued regarding the audio submission.
Following these discussions, the bench reaffirmed its directive for the complete audio recording to be sent to the NFSU in Gandhinagar for a comprehensive forensic report.
