NFSL report concludes audiotapes alleging Biren Singh incited Kuki-Meitei clashes are "modified, edited, and tampered," unfit for voice matching.
SC bench (Justices Kumar & Aradhe) shared findings with petitioner Kuki Organisation, rejecting private Truth Labs' 93% voice match claim amid prior inconclusive FSL reports.
Leaked in Aug 2024 amid 200+ deaths since May 2023 violence; post-Singh's Feb 2025 resignation and President's Rule, ruling halts PIL for SIT probe, sparking fabrication fears.
The Supreme Court on Monday disclosed a forensic report deeming whistleblower audiotapes, purportedly capturing former Chief Minister N. Biren Singh plotting violence, as “modified, edited, and tampered.” The revelation, buried in a sealed-cover submission from Gujarat’s National Forensic Sciences University (NFSL), has thrown fresh doubt on allegations that Singh, a polarizing Meitei leader, orchestrated the 2023-2025 clashes that pitted his community against the tribal Kukis, claiming over 200 lives and displacing tens of thousands.
The tapes, anonymously leaked in August 2024 amid the state’s spiraling unrest, surfaced as explosive evidence in a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust. Represented by senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, the NGO alleged the 48-minute recordings—allegedly from a closed-door meeting—included Singh’s voice directing officials to “incite and orchestrate” attacks on Kuki-dominated areas. Bhushan urged a Supreme Court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe, citing the clips as proof of “complicity at the highest level” in the violence that erupted on May 3, 2023, over disputes about tribal quotas and land rights.
But the NFSL’s confidential analysis, ordered by the apex court in August 2025 after an inconclusive report from Guwahati’s Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), paints a darker picture of potential foul play. “The audio exhibits have been processed and altered... not scientifically fit for voice comparison,” the report stated, as read out by Justice Sanjay Kumar during the hearing. No opinion could be offered on whether the voices matched Singh’s or belonged to the same speaker, effectively neutralizing the tapes as admissible evidence.
Bhushan pushed back, referencing a private forensic evaluation by Truth Labs, a Hyderabad-based firm often cited in courts—that found “no breaks” in the recordings and a 93% probability of Singh’s voice. “These tapes were sent to the government over a year ago, yet remained uninvestigated,” he argued, accusing delays of shielding the ex-CM. Co-counsel Cheryl D’Souza echoed the plea, framing the violence as “centrally orchestrated” under Singh’s watch, with Kukis facing “large-scale murder and destruction.”
The Manipur government, under Singh’s tenure, had dismissed the clips as “fake” propaganda aimed at sabotaging peace initiatives. Attorney General R. Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had earlier urged the Supreme Court to defer to the Manipur High Court, warning against “denting its majesty.” Mehta, in a May hearing, invoked the fragile peace post-President’s Rule: “Let investigation proceed without escalation.” The court, however, affirmed its role: “We’re not in an ivory tower—we’re alive to Manipur’s constitutional rights.”
