Guwahati: The Supreme Court on Monday questioned why the full set of leaked audio recordings, which allegedly indicate the involvement of former Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh in the 2023 ethnic violence, was not forwarded for forensic examination.
As per reports, the apex court said it was disturbed by an affidavit filed by the petitioners on November 20, which stated that only select audio clippings were forwarded to Gujarat’s National Forensic Sciences University for analysis.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Alok Aradhe asked government authorities why the complete leaked audio, running for about 48 minutes, was not sent to the forensic body, noting that the university had earlier concluded that the clips examined by it were tampered with.
During the hearing, the bench observed that the affidavit indicated only limited material had been shared for forensic analysis and expressed dissatisfaction over the manner in which the examination was conducted.
Appearing for the petitioners, advocate Prashant Bhushan informed the court that the total duration of the audio recordings was around 56 minutes, of which 48 minutes had been submitted to the court. He said the remaining portion of the audio identifies the person who made the recording, and disclosing it could endanger the individual’s life.
The bench observed that once the entire tape was available, it ought to have been sent in full for forensic examination, and questioned the rationale behind forwarding only selected portions.
Counsel for the respondents submitted that the November 20 affidavit had not been served upon them. The court, however, questioned why time should be wasted further and reiterated that the entire available material should have been examined.
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Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the government, sought a week’s time to respond to the affidavit. Taking the affidavit on record, the bench fixed the matter for further hearing on January 7.
The Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust, which has sought an independent Special Investigation Team probe into the leaked audio tapes.
On November 3, the apex court had noted that the National Forensic Sciences University had found the audio clips sent to it to be tampered with.
Former Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh resigned on February 9 amid growing internal dissent within the BJP and mounting pressure over the handling of the ethnic violence in the state.
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