Set up more Forensic Science laboratories: Kerala High Court to State

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday directed the State government to set up well-equipped forensic science/ chemical laboratories in the State to ensure that accurate forensic reports are provided to the Court within three weeks from samples being furnished [Aneeshkutty v State of Kerala]..Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V observed that to address the issues of high crime rates and pendency of cases, the State must set up advanced labs to aid the prosecution by ensuring reports reach courts expeditiously."Obviously, a State like Kerala where the crime rate is high requires enough labs with highly skilled Scientific Officers and state-of-the-art equipment. The report from the FSL and the Chemical Examiners Lab form the backbone of the prosecution case. Testing of samples must be swift, efficient and accurate and the report has to reach the Courts as expeditiously as possible...It is high time that the State woke up and set up enough Forensic Science/ Chemical Laboratories in the State and spruced up the infrastructure and employed technical personnel to ensure that reports are provided to the Court within three weeks from the date of furnishing of the sampling," the Court said..The outer limit for submitting such reports should be three weeks, the single-judge opined, as any further delay would indicate a collapse of the system as a whole."If reports are delayed as has happened in this case, the only conclusion that can be arrived at is that the system has collapsed and needs resuscitation," the judge said.."The pendency in the labs is mind boggling. The less said the better."Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V.The High Court noted that the pendency in such labs across the State is common knowledge as it is a common refrain in courts that labs are working far beyond their capacity, and thousands of samples forwarded much earlier are yet to be tested."The pendency in the labs is mind boggling. The less said the better," the Court noted..The High Court opined that the lack of investment in forensic science, which is an indispensable branch of jurisprudence, was leading to an alarmingly high acquittal rate."We cannot shut our eyes to the ways in which Forensic science is used for the detection of crime in other developed countries. As we have not invested our time and effort in establishing cutting edge labs and in employing skilled scientific officers to aid in all phases of the criminal investigation process, the acquittal rate is alarmingly high," the single-judge opined. .The Court made these observations while considering the bail application of a man who was accused of hacking a woman to death in 2019 after she resisted his sexual advances. Advocate Dipu R, appearing for the petitioner, pointed out from the order passed by the Sessions Court that the trial could not begin as material objects are yet to be analysed by the Forensic Science Laboratory. He argued that the Sessions Judge had found that the medical insanity of the accused is prima facie proved. As the legal insanity of the accused can be considered only at the stage of the trial, it was contended that it would be a travesty of justice to keep a mentally insane person in prison for such a long time..The Court noted that the petitioner had been in custody since December 2019 and even on date, the report from the Forensic Science Lab has not been forwarded to the Sessions Court. "The only consideration is whether a mentally sick person needs to languish in prison due to the inability of the criminal justice system to expedite the trial. The trial has been delayed due to the failure of the Forensic Science Lab in forwarding the reports to the Court of Session. The Court of Session cannot be faulted as it would not be possible to commence the trial without the analysis reports," the High Court noted. Since the right of an accused to a speedy trial has been recognised to be implicit in the spectrum of Article 21, and considering the facts of the instant case, the Court granted bail to the petitioner subject to him furnishing a bond of ₹1 lakh with two solvent sureties of the like amount. .[Read Order]