‘Not getting answers’: SC on ‘unreliable’ forensic report in Biren Singh row

THe sublime margaret court on mon verbalised its dissatisfaction with a indorse forensic laboratory report on an audio clip allegedly pointing to former Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh’s role in the instigation of communal violence in the state, wondering why the experts were not able to give a clear answer whether the voice in the clip matches with Singh’s voice already available.“We are just not getting any answers. They (forensic lab) are not even in a position to match the voice that is already available,” a bench of justices Sanjay Kumar and K Vinod Chandran said on a report from the Gandhinagar-based National Forensic Science University (NFSU) which described the audio clip as “unreliable”.The bench was hearing a petition filed by the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust through advocate Prashant Bhushan, seeking a court-monitored SIT probe into an audio tape, claiming that Biren Singh is purportedly heard in the tape saying that the violence between Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur that began in May 2023 was instigated at his insistence.The violence, which lasted till February this year, claimed more than 250 lives and displaced tens of thousands in the northeastern state. After two years of unrest and violence in the state, Singh, who was the chief minister of Manipur at the time, stepped down on February 9, 2025, leading to the imposition of President’s rule on February 13. The central rule ended on February 4 this year when Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yumnam Khemchand Singh took over as chief minister.The leaked tapes in question allegedly pertain to audio recordings made by a whistleblower during a closed-door meeting with Biren Singh.The NFSU report said that the audio clip was “edited”, “modified” and the data did not reveal the source, although no deep fake or AI-enabled editing was observed. The petitioner had also supplied Biren Singh’s original voice clip from Doordarshan to match the voice in the audio clip.The court had asked NFSU to compare the voice on the two clips and submit its report.But NFSU said “a reliable forensic examination” could not be carried out due to the inherent technical limitations.The bench noted that NFSU found even the additional clip provided from Doordarshan to be edited and tampered and consequently, a view on voice matching was not possible.“We should get an answer whether the voice matches with the voice that is already available. As per this report, even the Doordarshan recording is tampered with. Should we then ask him to come and record his voice?” the bench asked the government.The court noted this was the second time that a central forensic lab had returned an inconclusive finding; the first was the national forensic lab in Guwahati last year and asked additional solicitor general (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, who appeared for the Manipur government, to take instructions if his voice alone could be matched with any authentic source containing the former CM’s voice.Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that he will also take instructions to ascertain if the entire audio recording of the meeting is available and can be submitted for forensic analysis. He said that the whistleblower had only supplied the relevant portion containing the statement made by the then CM.The bench posted the matter after two weeks and directed that the NFSU report to be shared with ASG Bhati and Prashant Bhushan.“The petitioner shall ascertain whether the full audio clip would be provided to NFSU for undertaking a forensic examination,” the bench added,ASG said that the two forensic reports - both by Guwahati lab and NFSU - have given a finding, but the petitioner is seeking a “fishing enquiry” just because the report does not suit their requirement.The bench said, “We don’t know about the technical parameters. But suppose there is tampering, but if the voice is clear, why can’t it be used to compare the voice?” The court did raise concern on the admissibility of the audio clip recorded without the consent of the person making the statement.However, it underlined that the report by NFSU, said to be an institute of repute, had even misspelt “pen drive” as “Pan drive”.The petition alleged that the tapes revealed the CM’s involvement in fuelling the ethnic clashes between Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur. The petitioner had supported its claim by providing a report from Truth Labs, a private forensic agency, which certified the clip as authentic.