No need to protect wrongdoers: SC in 'audio clip' of Manipur ex-CM

Questioning the credibility of a sealed cover Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) report on a leaked audio clip allegedly featuring former Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre to submit a fresh report.

“What is this? You have to speak to your officers about it. Read the content and then talk to the officers… Please examine and bring a fresh report,” a Bench led by CJI Sanjiv Khanna asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre.

The Bench said there’s no need to protect any persons involved in wrongdoings in relation to ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur. 

“Let us ignore the petitioner, but if there is something wrong done, don’t have to protect that wrong,” the court said and deferred the hearing to July 21 after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought a month to complete the probe.

The top court was hearing Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust’s petition seeking a court-monitored SIT probe into the audio clips that allegedly revealed Singh’s involvement in fuelling the ethnic clashes between Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur.

More than 260 people have been killed and thousands displaced since the ethnic violence broke out between the Imphal valley-based Meitei and neighbouring hills-based Kuki communities in May 2023. The clashes began after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against an order of the Manipur High Court on the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

Singh resigned as the Chief Minister of Manipur on February 9, amid rumblings within the state BJP and growing demands for a change of leadership. 

As advocate Prashant Bhushan pressed for setting up an SIT, Mehta questioned the credentials of the petitioner terming it a “rookie organisation.”

Pointing out that a probe into the violence was already underway, Mehta said, “Peace is now prevailing and the (Manipur) high court can examine the issue. Let the investigation go on, rather than escalating the situation any further,” he said.