The Centre told the Supreme Court that the alleged Biren Singh audio on the 2023 Manipur violence was manipulated, citing an NFSU forensic report and seeking dismissal of the petition.

August 7, 2026 : The Union Government on Friday informed the Supreme Court that an audio recording purportedly linking former Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh to the 2023 ethnic violence had been manipulated and could not be treated as reliable evidence. Relying on a forensic examination conducted by the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU), Gandhinagar, the Centre urged the Court to dismiss the petition seeking an independent probe into the recording.

The submissions were made before a Bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva during the hearing of a writ petition filed by the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust. The petition seeks a court-monitored investigation into the authenticity and contents of the alleged audio recordings.

Appearing for the Union Government, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati referred to the NFSU’s forensic findings and submitted that the recordings contained several indications of editing and manipulation. She told the Bench that even the longer version of the audio, later produced by the petitioner, showed multiple alterations and inconsistencies, making it unsuitable to be relied upon as evidence. On this basis, the Centre requested that the writ petition be dismissed with costs.

The controversy centres around an audio recording allegedly featuring Biren Singh making statements about his role in the 2023 Manipur ethnic violence and the alleged protection of persons involved in looting arms during the unrest. The petitioner had initially relied on an audio clip of about 48 minutes before later placing before the Court an extended recording exceeding two hours.

Earlier in the proceedings, the Supreme Court had directed the National Forensic Sciences University to examine the complete recording after observing that the shorter clip appeared to be incomplete. The forensic experts were asked to determine whether the audio had been edited or manipulated and whether the voice matched the admitted voice samples of the former Chief Minister.

During the hearing, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, relied on a separate forensic analysis conducted by Truth Labs. According to that report, there was a high probability that the voice in the recording belonged to Biren Singh. Bhushan urged the Court to consider the Truth Labs findings while deciding the matter.

Taking note of the NFSU report, the Bench directed that copies of the six-page forensic report dated July 30, 2026, be supplied to both the petitioner and the Union Government. The Court observed that each side should have an adequate opportunity to examine and respond to the report before any further hearing.

The matter has been adjourned for further consideration. The Supreme Court will now examine the competing forensic reports before deciding the future course of the proceedings in the petition seeking an independent investigation into the alleged audio recordings.