Guwahati: The Centre told the Supreme Court on Friday that a forensic examination by the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU), Gandhinagar, found the audio clips allegedly linking former Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh to the 2023 ethnic violence had been altered.
The government subsequently sought dismissal of the petition seeking a probe into the recordings. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati placed the findings before a bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva.
Bhati argued that the petition should be dismissed with costs, saying that the longer version of the audio submitted later by the petitioner also contained several edits. She informed the court, based on details provided by a Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) doctor, that the recording had 41 alterations.
The Supreme Court said both the petitioner and the Centre should be given adequate time to study the latest NFSU report before making further submissions in the matter.
Appearing on behalf of the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust, advocate Prashant Bhushan challenged the Centre’s dependence on the NFSU findings. He referred to an earlier Truth Labs report and said it had found a “93 per cent match” between the voices examined in the recording.
The court ordered that the six-page NFSU report dated July 30, 2026, prepared by Surbhi Mathur, Associate Professor at the School of Forensic Science, NFSU, Gandhinagar, be made available to both parties before the hearing was adjourned.
The case concerns audio clips that allegedly contain Singh’s remarks claiming that he had “fuelled insurgency and protected those who looted the arms” during the 2023 ethnic violence in Manipur.
The petitioner had first submitted a 48-minute recording, following which the Supreme Court in August 2025 asked the NFSU to verify its authenticity and examine whether the voice belonged to Singh.
After examining the clip, the forensic agency said it appeared to be an edited and shortened section of a longer recording. It added that the available material was insufficient to conclusively confirm the recording’s authenticity or identify the speaker.
The Supreme Court had earlier asked the NFSU in April to examine the entire 2-hour-26-minute recording and match the voice in it with samples accepted as belonging to Singh after the petitioner provided the complete audio file.