NEW DELHI: Audio recordings allegedly implicating former Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh in the 2023 ethnic violence in the state were tampered with and are not scientifically fit for voice comparison, the National Forensic Science Laboratory (NFSL), Gandhinagar, has informed the Supreme Court.
“As the said audio is tampered with, no opinion on the similarity or dissimilarity of the speakers could be offered,” the NFSL told the court. The submission of the NFSL were made during the hearing of a plea filed by the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust (Kohur), seeking a court-monitored probe into certain leaked audio clips that allegedly implicate Singh in instigating the ethnic violence.
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Alok Aradhe directed that a copy of the NFSL’s report be shared with all parties and listed the case for further hearing on 8 December.
Kohur alleged that the tapes, shared by an anonymous whistleblower, contained phone conversations held by Singh, “establishing the complicity of the highest functionary and others” in the ethnic violence.