The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine the claim by a Kuki organisation that it possessed an audio clip that allegedly "proved" Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh's complicity in inciting the ethnic violence in the state.
Attorney-general R. Venkataramani and solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, objected to the court entertaining the petition by the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust. However, the objections were turned down by the bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud.
Mehta went to the extent of saying that “judges are living in ivory towers”, prompting the CJI to remark: “Not at all! We don’t appreciate any attempts to brush things under the carpet. We are well aware of the situation in Manipur.”
Appearing for the Kuki organisation, advocate Prashant Bhushan said the audio was obtained by a “whistleblower” and it revealed “very disturbing conversations" where the chief minister "admitted that he was the one to instigate the violence and protected the armed persons".
The bench asked Bhushan to place some material on record to show that there was some prima facie authenticity of the audio clip.
When Bhushan said the source's life was under threat, the CJI told him to give the evidence in a sealed cover.