The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Central Forensic Science Laboratory report on the examination of audio tapes allegedly belonging to Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh that suggested his alleged involvement in the ethnic violence that rocked the state for several months, LiveLaw reported.
The report has to be submitted in a sealed cover.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar heard the writ petition filed by the Kuki Organization for Human Rights Trust seeking an independent probe into the purported tapes.
The matter will be heard next in the week commencing on March 24.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who represented the petitioner, argued that the concerned audio tapes were examined by ‘Truth Labs’ which had certified that the voice belongs to the Chief Minister by over 93%, LiveLaw reported.
He argued that Biren Singh could be heard saying in the tapes that he allowed Meitei groups to loot the state armory and also that he allegedly ensured their protection from arrest.
Bhushan claimed that the Chief Minister’s remarks were “unfortunately” recorded by a person who was present in the closed-door meeting and they later on leaked the audio.
Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appearing for Manipur, reiterated his objection that the petitioner should first approach the High Court, while also underlining that an investigation was underway in the matter.
Earlier, a bench of then CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwal, and Justice Manoj Misra had asked the petitioner to produce materials that indicate the authenticity of the audio clips, after which the petitioner submitted the report of Truth Lab.
