Govt Forensic Lab Claims ‘Manipur Tapes’ Tampered With

Agency Tells Supreme Court Recordings Cannot Be Used for Voice Comparison

November 3, 2025

The Indian government’s forensic laboratory has told the Supreme Court that audio tapes allegedly implicating Biren N. Singh, former chief minister of Manipur, in ethnic violence were tampered with and cannot be used for voice comparison.

The National Forensic Science Laboratory, or NFSL, based in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, submitted its conclusions during a hearing on November 3 regarding a petition calling for a court-monitored investigation into the 2023 Manipur violence, LiveLaw reported. The tapes purportedly feature conversations involving Singh in connection with the unrest.

A bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Alok Aradhe said the NFSL report found four exhibits showed signs of “modification and tampering” and concluded that the clips “do not constitute the original source recording” and are “not scientifically fit for forensic voice comparison.”

The justices said the court was therefore unable to receive an expert opinion on whether the voice in the tapes matched that of the control sample provided. The report was submitted in a sealed cover as per earlier court instructions and will now be shared with all parties.

The petition, filed by the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust, had argued that the recordings needed independent forensic evaluation. In August 2025, the Supreme Court directed that the clips be sent to the NFSL after expressing dissatisfaction with an earlier analysis by the Guwahati Forensic Sciences Laboratory, which had failed to state clearly whether the voice matched Singh’s.

During the hearing, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, referenced a separate report by Truth Labs, a private forensic agency, which examined a 50-minute clip marked Y1. That report found the recording unedited and indicated a 93 percent probability that the voice matched the control sample.

Justice Kumar said the petitioner would be provided with the NFSL report so a response could be filed. He added that the lab’s findings would be shared by the court’s registrar. The next hearing has been scheduled for December 8.

Bhushan argued that Truth Labs had a strong track record, noting its prior work in forensic investigations. Justice Kumar responded that the court was relying on the NFSL report, calling it the country’s “premier forensic lab.”

Bhushan pushed back, noting that the NFSL was “a government lab,” and that despite the “very damaging conversations” allegedly captured in the tapes, the government had taken no action more than a year and a half after receiving them.

Counsel for the state of Manipur told the bench he was unable to follow the audio conversations in the clips. Bhushan responded that the forensic laboratory had better technical tools to enhance the audio and determine its contents.

The petition had originally been filed in early 2025. On February 3, the court had directed the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, or CFSL, to examine the tapes. At the time, Bhushan submitted the Truth Labs report and said it showed a strong voice match with Singh. The state government had opposed the petition, saying an FIR had already been registered and that social media platforms that circulated the clips were being contacted for verification.

In May, the court had expressed frustration at the slow pace of the forensic process and said the examination “cannot go on endlessly.” It then ordered a new analysis by the NFSL with instructions to determine whether the recordings had been edited or tampered with and to compare them with the voice sample of the former chief minister. The lab was asked to file its report within six weeks.

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