Supreme Court Finds Forensic Report on ‘Manipur Tapes’ Inadequate
Orders Review of Recording Alleging Ex-CM Biren Singh’s Role in 2023 Violence
May 6, 2025
The grave of a Kuki-Zo victim, in Churachandpur, Manipur. Photo by Newsreel Asia
The Supreme Court on May 5 opened a sealed report from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory on leaked audio recordings allegedly featuring former Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh, in which he is purported to admit a role in the ethnic violence that erupted in May 2023. Finding the report inadequate, the Court directed the government to have the tapes re-examined and stated that neither the judiciary nor the Centre is expected to “protect anyone.”
The recordings, known as “Manipur Tapes,” are claimed to have been made during a private meeting with Singh. A whistle‑blower says the tapes show the former chief minister urging or allowing violence between the majority Meitei community, who mainly live in the valley around Imphal, and the minority Kuki-Zo community, who live in the surrounding hills.
Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar told the solicitor general, Tushar Mehta, to bring a new report in the week that starts on July 21, 2025, according to Bar and Bench.
Mehta handed over the sealed report but admitted he had not read it himself. The judges examined it and then remarked that neither the court nor the Union government should “protect anyone” if the tapes prove wrongdoing. They asked Mehta to speak to the relevant officers, make sure a proper laboratory review takes place and file the fresh findings.
The Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust has asked for a court‑supervised investigation, arguing that state police cannot look into a matter that may involve their former political boss.
Mehta tried to cast doubt on the petitioners, describing the NGO as a “rookie organisation,” according to Hindustan Times. The bench replied that the identity of the petitioner did not matter; what mattered was whether the recordings were genuine and whether a crime had been committed. In other words, even if a small or unknown group brought the material to court, the material itself still deserved a fair look.
The solicitor general also said the state authorities were already investigating the wider violence and needed at least a month more. He said that Manipur is under President’s Rule, implying the state machinery is now under the Union government’s direct control, not the former chief minister’s party. He suggested the Manipur High Court could take over the case. However, the Supreme Court insisted on a new forensic review before it would decide on any larger steps, such as appointing a special investigation team.
Violence broke out on 3 May 2023 after a tribal rally in the hill districts protested a court order appeared to support Meitei demands for Scheduled Tribe status, which would give them the right to buy land in the hills—an area the Kuki-Zo consider their ancestral homeland, where land ownership by outsiders is not permitted. Violence spread quickly, mostly against the Kuki-Zo individuals, leading to more than 250 deaths and sending tens of thousands from both communities into relief camps.
Singh remained chief minister through the worst months but resigned on Feb. 9, 2025. Four days later, the Union government imposed President’s Rule, taking over administration of the state.
Truth Labs Forensic Services, an independent laboratory based in Hyderabad, was earlier asked by the petitioner to test the “Manipur Tapes.”
The lab compared the leaked recordings with two public videos of Singh and reported that the chances the voices came from the same speaker were 93 percent, based on a statistical test that weighed dozens of speech features—such as pitch, loudness and rhythm—and worked out how often two strangers would share the same patterns. In simple terms, the lab believes it is far more likely than not that Singh is the person talking on the tapes.
Truth Labs says its work has already been accepted as evidence by the Supreme Court, several high courts, the CBI and many other bodies, a point the petitioners used to argue that its report deserves serious weight.
The recordings first became public in August 2024 when The Wire released them. In the recording, Singh purportedly spoke about using “commandos” and explosives during the unrest. The Manipur state government dismissed the leak as “doctored” and said it had nothing to do with the chief minister, yet it had not produced any technical study to back that claim.
