Supreme Court orders forensic test of 48-minute audio allegedly involving ex-Manipur CM

Guwahati: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered 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.

The court also directed that his verified voice samples be included for forensic examination.

The bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K Vinod Chandran instructed the NFSU to complete the analysis quickly 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 directed.

Previously, in November 2025, the NFSU had informed the Supreme Court that the audio clips sent to it appeared tampered and were not suitable for scientific voice comparison, making it impossible to conclude whether the speakers were the same.

The petitioner challenged this, claiming that the Manipur Police had only sent edited, shorter clips instead of the full recording.

During the hearing, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioner Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust, said the matter had been listed about ten times with government counsel present each time.

He stated that the petition included the full transcript of the 48-minute conversation and that the audio had been provided, insisting that authorities were aware of the complete recording.

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the state, countered that the full recording was provided only after the previous hearing and had not been served earlier by the petitioner.

Bhushan said the authorities had opportunities to get the full recording during their repeated appearances in court and pointed out that no formal notice had been issued.

The bench then ordered that the complete audio be forwarded to the forensic laboratory.