The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed its dissatisfaction with the Central Forensic Science Laboratory’s (CFSL) plea that it could not establish the “authenticity” of a "leaked tape" in which then Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh is purportedly heard bragging about his complicity in the ethnic clashes between Meiteis and Kukis in 2023.

The apex court stated that it was only concerned with whether the voice samples of Biren and those found on the tape matched or not.

“We have not asked the CFSL about the authenticity of the tape. What we are asking for is, after testing the voice samples with the admitted voice of the individual, whether it can be identified that the same person is speaking in both?” the court asked additional solicitor-general Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the central forensic lab.

The bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma made the observation after Bhati submitted that the CFSL was not able to establish the authenticity of the tape submitted to it.

“The entire exercise seems to be misdirected, with only wishy-washy answers being given,” the bench remarked.

The bench rejected the intervention application moved by Biren’s daughter, who sought permission to assist the court in the matter.

The bench also did not agree with the contention of advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, that the CFSL was not acting fairly as it was under the administrative control of the NDA government.