Ex-Manipur CM Biren Singh’s leaked audio clips tampered with: NFSL tells SC

New Delhi, Nov 3: The National Forensic Science Laboratory (NFSL) in Gandhinagar told the Supreme Court that the audio clips allegedly linking former Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh to the 2023 ethnic violence were tampered with and unfit for voice comparison.

The findings were submitted to a Bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Alok Aradhe during the hearing of a plea seeking a court-monitored probe into the recordings.

After examining the NFSL’s sealed report, the Court directed that its final report be furnished to both parties and listed the matter for further hearing on December 8.

Reading from the report, Justice Kumar noted, “Four exhibits showed signs of modification and tampering. Therefore, they conclude that the clips are altered and do not constitute the original source recording and are not scientifically fit for forensic voice comparison.”

The Bench observed that consequently, no opinion on the similarity or dissimilarity of the speakers could be provided.

Appearing for the petitioner, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the Kuki Organization for Human Rights Trust, cited a separate analysis by Truth Labs, which claimed that a 50-minute recording (Y1) was unedited and had a 93% probability of voice match with the control sample of the same person.

Justice Kumar said the petitioner would be given access to the NFSL report to enable a detailed response.

“We will give you the report so you can respond to it,” the Bench told Bhushan. The Court directed that the NFSL’s final report, dated October 10, 2025, be provided to both sides through the Registrar.

The Court was hearing Kuki Organization for Human Rights Trust v. Union of India, seeking a court-monitored probe into the audio recordings allegedly linking the former Chief Minister to the 2023 ethnic violence in Manipur.

In August 2025, the Supreme Court had directed the NFSL, Gandhinagar, to determine whether the clips were edited or tampered with, after an earlier report from the Guwahati Forensic Sciences Laboratory proved inconclusive.

Previously, on February 3, 2025, the Court had sought a report from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) on the same recordings.

Bhushan had relied on the Truth Labs’ private report indicating a 93% voice match, while the State, represented by the Solicitor General, argued that an FIR was already registered and verification requests had been sent to social media platforms that circulated the clips.

In May 2025, the Bench had expressed dissatisfaction over delays in the forensic process, observing that the examination “cannot go on endlessly.”