Forensic Science Laboratory at Kachari Gaon in Dimapur. (File Photo)
• NFSA informs that FSL building at Kacharigaon is still not fully functional
• Says sending evidence to other State’s FSL is a ‘waste of time and money’
DIMAPUR, JANUARY 20 (MExN): The Nagaland Forensic Science Association (NFSA) today stressed on the need for Nagaland to have a fully equipped forensic laboratory.
“With the ever increasing crime cases in Nagaland, it is now of the utmost importance for the state to have a fully functional, independent or upgraded State Forensic Science Laboratory consisting of qualified forensic experts as already present in the other North-East states of India,” a press release from the NFSA stated.
It lamented that Nagaland has been “sleeping on this issue for far too long,” and so the State needs to wake up and quickly take necessary actions. The NFSA pointed out that many States of India have already improved and addressed the forensic requirements and are rapidly advancing in this field.
“India is concerned about the rampant rising criminal cases, huge pending cases leading to the delay of justice, and therefore, the Ministry of Home Affairs has allocated a lion’s share of Rs 1,03,802 Crore (from the Union Budget 2021-2022 of Rs 1.66 lakh crore) for strengthening police forces and allied organizations,” it informed.
The association further stated that the recently announced National Forensic Science University and Rashtriya Raksha University has been allocated Rs 60 and Rs 70 crore each, adding that this displays “India’s commitment to train forensic students to tackle crimes.”
It explained that the importance of forensic evidence in the court of law is that it helps to prove that a crime has been committed, establish key elements of a crime, provide link between the questioned entities, identify individuals, exonerate the innocent, and aid in corroborating a victim’s testimony.
“A judge or jury is more likely to find favour with the side that presents compelling evidence to prove a party’s guilt or innocence as facts do not lie but man can,” it added.
The NFSA said that recently, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Supreme Court of India seeking directions to the Union of India to use forensic techniques to improve investigation. The petitioners have even sought directions to the state and union territories to make urgent appointment of forensic expert in every district and at least appoint one forensic expert in each police station. “So our state should also align itself with the trend, direction, and move along with the other states,” the NFSA said.
The NFSA pointed out that Nagaland has been sending its evidence to other neighboring states like Assam but due to the increasing pending cases of their own state, “our state’s report is of the last priority.” Further, it noted that sending evidence to other FSLs is a “waste of time and money.”
“In addition, certain (bio) evidence degrades overtime and if evidence are not collected, handled, or stored properly, the integrity of such evidence could be questioned; and many cases are lost because of this system. Hence, the need of qualified forensic experts as well as the up-gradation of the forensic lab is now a necessity so that evidence in the crime scene can be properly collected and quickly analyzed,” it added. Further, the NFSA said that the report can be generated within one place in short time duration.
Nagaland already has a FSL building at Kacharigaon; however, the NFSA informed that it is still not fully functional and the important departments like Forensic Biology, Forensic Chemistry and Toxicology, Questioned Document, and Forensic Ballistic department are yet to be established along with the instruments and equipment necessary in a forensic lab for analysis and report making.
Using the Oting killings as an example, the NFSA said that in such cases, it is pertinent to quickly bring the culprits under justice.
“In ambush type cases the expected examination of evidence involves an analysis of firearm evidences using a comparison microscope of controlled and questioned sample, cone fractures in vehicular window pane, possible skid marks in case of a moving vehicle that was abruptly stopped and medico-legal evidence determining range of fire etc.
With such delays even in critical and time sensitive cases like Oting, one can only imagine the delay of justice in other crime cases of Nagaland,” the NFSA said.
It meanwhile stated that unless a fully equipped and functional Forensic Science Lab is established in Nagaland, “justice will always be delayed or the efforts of SIT will come to no fruition.”
The NFSA, which was formed in 2018 by a group of graduates with specialized knowledge of forensic science, informed that it has approached the Police Department and the concerned authorities. The necessity of forensic lab in Nagaland has been acknowledged but there is delay in recruitment process, it added.
It therefore urged the concerned authorities to make recruitment at the earliest time and bring a fully functional forensic lab to serve the interest of the state.
