The Supreme Court has directed the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU), Gujarat, to conduct a forensic examination of an audio recording allegedly linking former Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh to the 2023 ethnic violence in the state.
The Bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K Vinod Chandran issued the direction on Thursday while hearing a petition filed by the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust seeking an independent probe, preferably by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), into the alleged large-scale violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities and the alleged role of the state machinery.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, informed the Court that a complete audio recording of over two hours had been placed on record. The Court directed that the first-generation copy of the audio, stored on a pen drive, be furnished to the respondents and forwarded to the NFSU for forensic voice comparison.
The Court directed the forensic body to examine whether the recording had been edited, tampered with, or altered, and to compare the voice in the disputed clip with admitted voice samples of the individual concerned. The State of Manipur was directed to provide authenticated voice samples for this purpose.
The Bench noted that earlier forensic reports had indicated technical limitations, including signs of tampering, which prevented conclusive voice comparison. It emphasised the need to analyse the original or first-generation copy to ensure evidentiary reliability and properly determine hash values and metadata.
The matter was related to alleged leaked audio clips purportedly indicating the involvement of state authorities in the ethnic violence that broke out in Manipur in May 2023. The Court had earlier expressed concern that only selective portions of the recordings were initially submitted for forensic analysis.
The proceedings also addressed issues relating to the chain of custody and authenticity of digital evidence. The Court observed that multiple copies of an audio file may degrade quality and affect forensic examination, and therefore insisted on submission of the earliest available copy. It directed the NFSU to complete the forensic analysis within six weeks and submit its report. The Bench clarified that the present directions were limited to forensic verification of the audio evidence and did not determine the merits of the allegations.
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