Why full audio clip on Manipur violence was not sent to forensics, asks SC

The Supreme Court on Monday (December 15, 2025) asked the government why the entire leaked audio clip, which allegedly pointed to former Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh’s role in the 2023 ethnic violence, was not sent to the Gujarat National Forensic Science University (NFSU) for examination.

The high court said it was “somewhat disturbed” by the affidavit filed on behalf of the petitioners on November 20, which “stated that only selected clippings were sent” for forensic purposes. NFSU had almost made a clear statement saying that the leaked audio clip had been “tampered with”.

Mr. Singh resigned as Chief Minister of Manipur on February 9.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing before the petitioners, said that probably not all the audio clips submitted by them were sent to NFSU. He said the tapes were approximately 56 minutes long and the petitioners had 48 minutes in court. He said that the identity of the person who made the recording was identified in the remaining part, and that his life could be in danger if his identity was disclosed.

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, who is involved in the matter, sought a week’s time to respond to the affidavit.

The court decided January 7 for the case to be heard again.

The high court was hearing a petition filed by the Kuki Human Rights Foundation Organisation, seeking an independent SIT investigation into the content of the audio clip.