Report on Biren audio clip authenticity ready: Centre to SC

New Delhi: The Centre on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that a forensic report on the authenticity of leaked audio clips alleging the role of former Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh in the ethnic violence in the state was ready and would be filed shortly in a sealed cover.

A bench headed by CJI Sanjiv Khanna took note of the submissions of a counsel appearing for the Centre and the state govt and deferred the hearing on a plea filed by the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust (KOHUR) in the week commencing May 5.

The counsel said the report from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) will be filed by solicitor general Tushar Mehta and sought an adjournment, saying the law officer was unavailable at the moment.

Singh resigned as the CM of Manipur on Feb 9.

Earlier, the top court sought a sealed-cover forensic report from the CFSL on the authenticity of the leaked audio clips alleging Singh's role in the ethnic violence that began in May 2023.

KOHUR, represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan, had sought a court-monitored SIT probe into Singh's alleged role.

"The state is gradually limping back to normalcy and we will keep it (the matter) on hold at the moment," the CJI had said, adding he would see later whether the top court or the high court should hear the case.

The solicitor general agreed with the observations.

Bhushan termed the contents of the audio leaks a "very serious matter" and said Singh was purportedly heard saying that Meitei groups were allowed to loot arms and ammunition of the state govt. "I have annexed transcripts of tape recordings," he said. PTI