Centre Claims Audio Implicating Manipur Ex-CM Was Edited

Imphal: The federal government wants the Supreme Court to toss a petition targeting former Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh. Officials told the court on August 7 that forensic tests prove audio recordings linking Singh to the 2023 ethnic violence were manipulated. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati pointed to a report from the National Forensic Sciences University in Gandhinagar to back the claim.

The clips are fake. Bhati told Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva that the longer version provided by the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust also contains evidence of tampering. A doctor from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory noted 41 separate edits in the file. The Centre now demands the petition be dismissed with costs.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioners, pushed back against the state’s findings. He cited a previous analysis by Truth Labs, which he claims showed a "93 per cent match" between the speakers and Singh. The recordings allegedly feature Singh admitting he "fuelled insurgency and protected those who looted the arms" during the 2023 conflict.

The court reviewed the history of the evidence. Originally, the petitioner submitted a 48-minute clip, which the NFSU failed to verify in August 2025. By April, the court ordered a fresh look at a two-hour and 26-minute file. The latest six-page report, dated July 30, 2026, was authored by Dr. Surbhi Mathur. The bench granted both sides time to review the findings before the next hearing.