The Crossbill News Desk
The Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 19) criticised the handling of audio tapes by the government-owned Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory (CFSL), which allegedly contained the voice of former Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh taking credit for the ethnic conflict that broke out in the state in May 2023.
The violence has so far claimed over 200 lives and displaced nearly 60,000 people, the majority of whom remain in relief camps.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Satish Chandra Sharma, hearing the matter on August 19, said the CFSL had misunderstood its directive.
The court clarified that it had not asked the laboratory to establish the authenticity of the video but only to compare two voice samples—one from the audio tapes and another admitted sample of Singh’s voice submitted by the petitioner—and report if they matched.
“We had not asked about the authenticity of the video. What we are asking for is after testing that voice with the admitted voice of the individual whether it can be identified that the same persons are speaking in both?” the bench observed, according to The Indian Express.
According to a report by India Today NE, the court told additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, “We don’t need the authenticity of the video to be established. The entire exercise seems to be misdirected. Only wishy-washy answers are being given. The CFSL is under the impression that we want to know if the video is authentic or not.”
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta was not present at the hearing, being engaged in another case.
Appearing for the petitioner, the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust (KOHUR), advocate Prashant Bhushan alleged that the CFSL was under the administrative control of the ruling party to which Singh belongs, and sought an independent SIT probe. The bench, however, remarked, “You cannot suspect the bonafides of every organisation on the ground of administrative control. We will have to bring an organisation from abroad.”
The petitioner had earlier submitted a report from Truth Lab, a private forensic laboratory, which said the two voice samples matched “93 per cent.”
However, at Mehta’s insistence, the apex court had directed that the testing be done by a government-owned laboratory, leading to CFSL’s involvement. But the government has since failed to produce a complete report, prompting the court to describe CFSL’s exercise as “misdirected.”
During the hearing, Singh’s daughter filed an application seeking to be made a party to the case, but the court dismissed it, stating that the proceedings were not a “family support programme.”
The court has in earlier hearings underscored that there should be “no protection for any person” found complicit in the violence. In November 2024, it had admitted the KOHUR petition, which sought an independent investigation into the tapes, where the voice allegedly resembling Singh’s claimed responsibility for orchestrating the conflict.
The violence has so far claimed over 200 lives and displaced nearly 60,000 people, the majority of whom remain in relief camps.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Satish Chandra Sharma, hearing the matter on August 19, said the CFSL had misunderstood its directive.
The court clarified that it had not asked the laboratory to establish the authenticity of the video but only to compare two voice samples—one from the audio tapes and another admitted sample of Singh’s voice submitted by the petitioner—and report if they matched.
“We had not asked about the authenticity of the video. What we are asking for is after testing that voice with the admitted voice of the individual whether it can be identified that the same persons are speaking in both?” the bench observed, according to The Indian Express.
According to a report by India Today NE, the court told additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, “We don’t need the authenticity of the video to be established. The entire exercise seems to be misdirected. Only wishy-washy answers are being given. The CFSL is under the impression that we want to know if the video is authentic or not.”
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta was not present at the hearing, being engaged in another case.
Appearing for the petitioner, the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust (KOHUR), advocate Prashant Bhushan alleged that the CFSL was under the administrative control of the ruling party to which Singh belongs, and sought an independent SIT probe. The bench, however, remarked, “You cannot suspect the bonafides of every organisation on the ground of administrative control. We will have to bring an organisation from abroad.”
The petitioner had earlier submitted a report from Truth Lab, a private forensic laboratory, which said the two voice samples matched “93 per cent.”
However, at Mehta’s insistence, the apex court had directed that the testing be done by a government-owned laboratory, leading to CFSL’s involvement. But the government has since failed to produce a complete report, prompting the court to describe CFSL’s exercise as “misdirected.”
During the hearing, Singh’s daughter filed an application seeking to be made a party to the case, but the court dismissed it, stating that the proceedings were not a “family support programme.”
The court has in earlier hearings underscored that there should be “no protection for any person” found complicit in the violence. In November 2024, it had admitted the KOHUR petition, which sought an independent investigation into the tapes, where the voice allegedly resembling Singh’s claimed responsibility for orchestrating the conflict.
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