‘Manipur Tapes’: Supreme Court Likely to Review Fresh Forensic Report on July 28

Audio Tapes Allege Ex-Chief Minister Biren Singh’s Role in May 2023 Violence

July 25, 2025

The Supreme Court is likely to review a new forensic report on audio recordings known as the “Manipur Tapes,” which are alleged to reveal former Chief Minister Biren Singh’s role in the ethnic violence that began in May 2023. The Court ordered a fresh analysis earlier this year and has tentatively listed the matter for July 28, after previously setting a deadline for the week commencing July 21.

The case, a writ petition filed by the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust, has been tentatively listed for July 28, according to court documents.

The “Manipur Tapes” are claimed to have been recorded during a private meeting with Singh. According to a whistle-blower, the audio captures the former chief minister urging or allowing violence between the majority Meitei community, which mainly lives in the Imphal valley region, and the minority Kuki-Zo community in the surrounding hills.

The petitioners have argued that the content of the recordings points to direct involvement by political authorities in the outbreak of violence and should therefore be investigated impartially.

On May 5, the Court had opened a sealed report submitted by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory regarding the tapes. The justices described the report as inadequate and instructed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to obtain a new, comprehensive forensic examination, making clear that neither the judiciary nor the central government was expected to protect anyone implicated by the findings.

At the hearing, Mehta told the bench he had not reviewed its contents. The justices, the then Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, examined the report in court, then instructed Mehta to coordinate with the relevant authorities and ensure that the new forensic review would be carried out by a competent laboratory.

The Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust called for the investigation to be supervised by the judiciary, contending that the Manipur state police cannot investigate a case that could implicate their former political leader. In response, Mehta described the trust as a “rookie organisation.” The bench responded that the identity of the petitioner was irrelevant and only the authenticity of the material and the nature of the alleged crime needed examination.

Mehta told the bench that state authorities were investigating the violence and would need at least another month to complete their work. He also said that Manipur had been under President’s Rule since February, and not under the former chief minister’s party. Mehta suggested the Manipur High Court could potentially take over the case, but the Court said it would not make any further decision, such as appointing a special investigation team, until a new forensic report is available.

The violence in Manipur began on May 3, 2023, following a tribal rally in the hill districts protesting a court order that appeared to support Meitei demands for Scheduled Tribe status. The status would have allowed Meiteis to buy land in the hill districts, a region considered ancestral to the Kuki-Zo community. The violence escalated rapidly, resulting in more than 250 deaths and the displacement of tens of thousands from both the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities.

Singh remained as chief minister during the height of the violence and resigned on Feb. 9, 2025. Four days later, the central government imposed President’s Rule in Manipur, assuming direct control over the state’s administration.

An independent analysis of the “Manipur Tapes” was also conducted by Truth Labs Forensic Services in Hyderabad, after being commissioned by the petitioners. The lab compared the leaked audio to two public videos featuring Singh and concluded that the probability the voices matched was 93 percent. The result was reached using a statistical test that measured features such as pitch, loudness and rhythm, and compared the likelihood that two different people would produce similar patterns.

Truth Labs’ credentials were cited by the petitioners, who noted that the lab’s findings have previously been accepted by the Supreme Court, several high courts, the Central Bureau of Investigation and other agencies.

The recordings became public in August 2024, when The Wire published the tapes and reported that Singh could be heard discussing the use of “commandos” and explosives during the unrest. The Manipur state government responded by labelling the recordings as “doctored” and denying any link to the former chief minister, but did not release any technical study to support its claim.

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