Twenty months on, violence in Manipur continues. Since day 1, the role of BJP Chief Minister N Biren Singh has been under the scanner. Opposition politicians and human rights activists have been urging the government day in and day out to act and control the violence.
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Amidst the violence, an audio tape allegedly implicating CM Biren Singhโs involvement in the stateโs deadly ethnic violence made headlines
Now, an analysis has found the probability of the voice in the leaked tapes matching CM Biren Singh is 93%.
An analysis by Truth Labs Forensic Services found a 93% probability that the voice in the leaked tapes matched CM Biren Singh.
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According to the forensic report, the audio evidence was received on two pen drives. Truth Labs then conducted the analysis using two samples: one from a press conference and another from an interview with Biren Singh.
Both audio and video were taken from YouTube, along with the standard audio-video files. All the files were marked with serial numbers starting from S1 to S6.
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The report read: โIt has been found that the probability of the male speakers in the โQ/M audio filesโ and โS/M audio-video filesโ being the same person is 93%. Samples Q1 to Q4 were provided on one pen drive, with Q1 identified as the original audio and the others as excerpts from the main fileโ.
It further added, โThe intonation patterns of around 20 commonly uttered words found in the samples were similarโ. In addition, the โvowel distribution patternsโ analyzed for these and other words by the speakers in both sets of recordings โwere found to be similar with high probability.โ
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The Truth Labs Forensic report hence concluded that auditory, spectrographic, and statistical analyses confirmed a high probability that the voice samples belonged to the same speaker.
After the Truth Labโs analysis was completed, the petitionerโs counsel filed a supplementary affidavit at the apex court on January 22, 2024. Prashant attached a copy of the Truth Lab certification report.
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Meanwhile, the Manipur government dismissed these allegations., claiming that the tapes wereโdoctored.โ In August last year, it released an official public statement in response to the allegations.
The government said, โThis doctored audio is a malicious attempt by certain sections to incite communal violence or to derail the peace process that has been initiated at multiple levels.โ It further suggested that the police authorities will look into the matter and conduct an investigation.
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How credible is the Truth Lab?
Truth Labs is Indiaโs first independent forensic science laboratory. It was established in Hyderabad on 2 October 2007.
Truth Labs operates in six metropolitan cities: Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Hyderabad. It has worked with police, courts, central and state government departments, corporations, commercial agencies, and individuals.
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The Supreme Court heard the case and, on January 3rd, asked the central forensic science lab to conduct another analysis and submit it by March 24th this year.
The Supreme Court bench was led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar. The court said, โIt is pointed out that the audio clips have been sent for examination by the CFSL. The report shall be produced in a sealed cover before the court on the next date of hearingโ.
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The Apex court bench then asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to submit the Central Forensic Science Laboratory report in a sealed envelope. The hearing on the matter will commence next week, on March 24.
During the hearing CJI Khanna told Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, โThere are two things. One is that the state is gradually limping back to normalcy. We will keep it on hold. The second issue is whether we should entertain it or the High Court should entertain it.โ
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Bhushan said the findings from the truth lab report were โvery seriousโ and implicated the CM. The CJI said he had not gone through the transcripts.
Following this, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta claimed that Truth Labs is a private company. He said the โpetitioner has some ideological inclinations. These civil society organisations want to keep the pot boilingโฆ That appears to be the intention. Let that not happen.โ
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To which Bhushan said, โThe petitioner had sent the tapes to Truth Labs, which has far more expertise and credibility than CFSLโฆโ and that the lab had said it was โhis (Birenโs) voiceโ in the tapes.
The CJI said, โWe are careful. Thatโs why I said in the beginning itself. This should not become another issue.โ
Bhushan claimed that โthe Chief Ministerโs remarks were unfortunately recorded by a person. The person was present during the closed-door meeting, and the audio was later leaked.โ However, the person who recorded the meeting has not yet been identified.
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Advocate Prashant Bhushan argued that CM Biren Singh, in these tapes, could be heard saying that โhe was the one who allowed the Meitei groups to loot the state armory and allegedly ensured their protection from arrestโ.
Taking note, the SC questioned why the petitioner could not have approached the HC first. The CJI also added, โAt the same time, I donโt know the contents of the transcripts, and the veracity also. Thatโs for you people to examineโฆ Let the FSL report comeโ.
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Meanwhile, the clips of these audio recordings were first leaked in parts on August 7, 2024, and the remaining chunks were released on August 20.
As soon as the recording became public, the Kuki-Zo civil society organisations and MLAs stated that it proved the Chief Ministerโs involvement โwithout an iota of doubt.โ
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Furthermore, the Kuki Studentsโ Organisation had claimed that โthe recordings revealed that Singh was boasting in a closed-door meeting with his cliques and he was the one who initiated the war against the Kuki-Zo people to save Meitei civilization.โ
Following this, the Kuki organization filed a petition, which the Supreme Court heard on November 8. The petition sought a court-monitored investigation into these leaked audio clips.
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During this hearing, the bench of then-Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwal, and Justice Manoj Misra asked the petitioner to produce materials indicating the authenticity of the audio clips.
Following the Supreme Courtโs order, the petitionerโs counsel, Prashant Bhushan, sought the services of Truth Labs on November 14 to verify the tapeโs authenticity.
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The Manipur ethnic violence killed over 200 people, injured thousands, and displaced at least 60,000 people belonging to the Kuki and Meitei communities.
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