‘Entire exercise seems to be misdirected’: Supreme Court raps CFSL on probe into ex-Manipur CM Biren Singh ‘audio clip’

“We had not asked about the authenticity of the video. What we are asking for is, after testing that voice with the admitted voice of the individual, whether it can be identified that the same persons are speaking in both.” Justices Sanjay Kumar — presiding over a two-judge bench also comprising Justice S C Sharma — told Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati.

“The entire exercise seems to be misdirected. Only wishy-washy answers are being given. CFSL is under the impression that we want to know if the video is authentic or not,” Justice Kumar said.

Bhushan questioned the credibility of CFSL, which he said was under the administrative control of the same government of which Singh was a part. He urged the court to seek a report from Truth Labs, a private forensic lab.

However, the argument did not seem to find favour with the bench, with Justice Kumar saying “you cannot suspect the bona fides of every organisation on the ground of administrative control.”

The bench also wondered how it could rely on the report of a private organisation, and said it wanted to understand the process which CFSL followed.

Bhati agreed to get back to the court with the information.

Hearing the matter on November 8, 2024, a three-judge bench presided by then Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra raised questions over the “tapes” and asked the Kuki outfit to first produce material proving its authenticity.

“Before the court can consider the submissions which have been made on the basis of an audio clip, we deem it appropriate to grant the petitioner time to file before this court the material indicating the authenticity of the clip,” the court had ordered then.

Bhushan had said that it was from a whistleblower whose identity he cannot disclose.

In February this year, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the bench that the purported tape was sent to CFSL in November 2024, following which a bench of then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar directed that the report be submitted to it in a sealed cover.

The report was accordingly submitted to the court, and on May 5, a bench headed by then CJI Khanna perused the same and asked Mehta to take instructions anew on filing a fresh forensic report.

The court will hear now hear the matter on August 25.