Leaked audio clips alleging Biren’s role tampered with: SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday observed that the National Forensic Science Laboratory (NFSL) at Gujarat has said the leaked audio clips, which allegedly pointed to the purported role of former Manipur CM N Biren Singh in the 2023 ethnic violence in the state, were “tampered with”.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Alok Aradhe observed that according to the NFSL’s report, the audio clips exhibited signs of editing and tampering and were not scientifically fit for forensic voice comparison.

“Consequently, no opinion regarding the similarity or dissimilarity of the speakers in the question and the controlled clips can be offered,” the bench said, while referring to the NFSL’s report.

The apex court was hearing a petition filed by Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust (KOHUR) which has sought an independent SIT probe into the matter. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for KOHUR, said that a copy of the NFSL’s report be shared with the parties so that they could respond to it.

The bench directed the apex court registry to submit a copy of the report to the counsel appearing for the parties and posted the matter for hearing on December 8.