Court directs whistleblower’s pen drive copy to be sent to NFSU for forensic comparison with admitted voice recordings in Manipur violence case
Whistleblower Agrees To Submit Audio
The Supreme Court was informed that the whistleblower has agreed to provide the original audio clips.
The clips allegedly implicate former Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh in connection with the ethnic violence in Manipur.
A Bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K. Vinod Chandran has been monitoring the verification of the recording.
The Court has directed steps to test the authenticity of the audio.
It has also asked authorities to compare the disputed recording with Biren Singh’s admitted voice samples.
Earlier Forensic Reports Examined
In February last year, the Supreme Court directed production of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Guwahati report in a sealed cover.
Later, in May, the Court expressed dissatisfaction with the report submitted by the Central FSL.
Therefore, it called for a fresh FSL report.
In August, the Court directed the National Forensic Sciences Laboratory to resume the exercise.
This direction came after the CFSL report did not give clear findings.
Thereafter, in January this year, the Court directed the National Forensic Sciences University to examine the full 48-minute clip.
The Court also asked NFSU to compare it with the admitted voice of Singh.
NFSU Found Audio Difficult To Compare
In the previous order, the Court noted that NFSU could not carry out the comparison.
According to NFSU, the audio appeared to have been modified.
Therefore, the Court asked Advocate Prashant Bhushan to explore whether the whistleblower could submit the original, unmodified audio.
Bhushan appeared for the petitioner, Kuki Organisation for Human Rights.
Earlier, Bhushan had submitted that such disclosure could expose the whistleblower’s identity.
However, he said he would make efforts to obtain the material.
Subsequently, the Court was informed that the whistleblower had submitted audio running for more than 2 hours and 26 minutes.
State Asked To Furnish Admitted Voice Recordings
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati was asked why NFSU could not compare the submitted audio with Biren Singh’s audio clips.
Bhati submitted that the audio appeared to be modified.
She said it contained variations at different levels.
She also stated that the State of Manipur had not supplied admitted recordings of Biren Singh.
This, she said, was contrary to the petitioner’s allegation.
However, Bhushan maintained that the State had audio clips of Singh from Doordarshan interviews.
According to him, those clips could be used for comparison.
The Supreme Court has now directed the State to furnish admitted audio recordings for comparison with the disputed clip.
NFSU Clarification On Pen Drive
ASG Bhati also clarified an issue concerning the word “pendrive”.
She submitted that NFSU had been unnecessarily trolled for writing “pendrive” as “pandrive”.
According to her, NFSU had received the material in that form.
Hence, to maintain authenticity, the institution could not alter even the wording.
Court Seeks First-Generation Copy
As the Court proceeded to pass an order for sending the audio to NFSU, Bhushan gave further details.
He informed the Bench that the whistleblower had copied the audio from the mobile phone used for recording to a pen drive.
Thereafter, further copies were made.
The Court observed that forensic examination required the first-generation copy.
Bhati, on instructions, submitted that the original device was not necessary.
However, she said the first copy transferred from the mobile phone to the pen drive would be required.
This would allow experts to generate the hash value.
She further stated that the scientists required a raw file without alteration.
“No Point Giving Copy Of Copy”: Court
Bhushan said he would find out which pen drive contained the first copy.
He also submitted that the whistleblower could not make a fresh copy from the phone.
This was because the whistleblower had deleted the audio from the mobile phone.
Justice Sanjay Kumar observed that copies may degrade in quality.
The Judge said there was no point in producing “a copy of a copy of a copy.”
Bhushan responded that the whistleblower had first copied the audio from the phone to a pen drive.
He added that the whistleblower later deleted it out of fear.
NFSU Directed To Complete Exercise Within Six Weeks
The Bench directed that the first-generation pen drive copy be furnished to the other side within one week.
The material will then be transmitted to NFSU.
The Court also directed the State of Manipur to furnish admitted recordings of the person concerned.
NFSU will use those recordings for comparison with the disputed audio.
Further, the Court directed NFSU to complete the exercise as expeditiously as possible.
Preferably, the forensic exercise must be completed within six weeks.
Case Details
Case Title: Kuki Organization for Human Rights Trust v. Union of India
Case No.: W.P.(C) No. 702/2024
Court: Supreme Court of India
Bench: Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K. Vinod Chandran
