Centre Delays ‘Manipur Tapes’ Report, Prompting Supreme Court’s Concern
Alleged Recordings Suggest Ex-Chief Minister Biren Singh’s Role in Violence
August 5, 2025
The Supreme Court has asked the Union government why it has not yet submitted the forensic report authenticating the audio tapes purportedly featuring former Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh, despite being directed to do so three months ago. The delay raises concerns about whether the government is treating with due seriousness the evidence that could implicate a public official in a major episode of ethnic violence involving loss of life, destruction of homes and the displacement of thousands.
In November 2024, the Supreme Court agreed to examine audio tapes submitted by the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust, which claimed that the voice in the recordings, known as “Manipur Tapes,” sounded like Singh’s and featured him making statements suggesting his role in fuelling the ethnic violence in Manipur. The violence involving the majority Meitei community and the minority Kuki-Zo tribal community has claimed at least 250 lives and displaced over 50,000 people.
The Wire had earlier released these tapes in September 2024, after they were accepted as material evidence by the judicial commission set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
In response to the court’s direction, the petitioner approached Truth Labs, a private forensic lab, which stated that the voice in the tapes showed a 93 percent similarity with verified voice samples of Singh. The government, however, insisted on verifying the tapes through the Centre for Forensic Science Laboratory, a government-owned facility. This request was allowed. In April 2025, when the matter came up for hearing, the government sought more time, citing the unavailability of the Solicitor General.
By May 2025, when the matter was again heard by a bench led by then Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared and submitted a sealed cover report from the government lab. The court, after reading it, dismissed it as unsatisfactory and asked for a new report. Mehta, at that time, admitted to not having read the report’s contents and was asked to coordinate with the concerned offices to produce a meaningful submission.
On Aug. 4, the case came up once again, this time before Justices P.V. Sanjay Kumar and Satish Chandra Sarma. Mehta told the bench that the fresh report had still not been prepared and asked for two more weeks, as reported by The Wire. The bench responded by questioning the delay, asking how long a forensic lab takes to deliver a voice analysis report and warned that the process could not go on indefinitely.
The court granted time until Aug. 19 but did not hide its impatience with the government’s conduct.
The sequence of delays and the half-hearted submissions are despite the fact that the investigation concerns an alleged confession by a sitting chief minister about his role in instigating ethnic violence that has fractured the state of Manipur, triggered national concern and displaced tens of thousands, many of who remain in relief camps.
If the voice in the tape is verified as Singh’s, it would constitute potential evidence of state complicity in acts of mass violence. Every day the forensic report is withheld or deferred is a day that justice is withheld from those communities still reeling from the loss.
First, the report was said to be unavailable because the Solicitor General was busy. Then it was submitted in a sealed cover, only to be found lacking substance by the court. Now, three months after that, the same Solicitor General claims it has not been prepared. This inconsistency may signal to some that the state is either unable or unwilling to handle this evidence with the seriousness it demands. The judicial commission had already accepted the tape as part of its inquiry. The petitioner had independently verified it. And yet, the state’s lab cannot produce a basic analysis in three months.
The delay has a chilling effect on the legitimacy of India’s legal process. If an allegation this serious, involving a state’s chief executive in mass violence, is not pursued with urgency, it invites cynicism about the boundaries of accountability. The Centre has invoked the need to maintain peace in the region as justification for holding back disclosures. This argument is not supported by the realities on the ground, where affected communities still languish in camps with little resolution in sight.
The peace that the government refers to is not being served by silence, it is being prolonged by the lack of truth.
This delay concerns more than one state or community. It raises the question of whether the Indian state is willing and able to investigate its own leadership in the face of serious allegations of constitutional violations. The government must act within the rule of law, regardless of the seniority or position of those accused.
You have just read a News Briefing by Newsreel Asia, written to cut through the noise and present a single story for the day that matters to you. Certain briefings, based on media reports, seek to keep readers informed about events across India, others offer a perspective rooted in humanitarian concerns and some provide our own exclusive reporting. We encourage you to read the News Briefing each day. Our objective is to help you become not just an informed citizen, but an engaged and responsible one.
