BENGALURU:The Forensic Science Laboratories (FSL) in the state are operating with only 60% of the sanctioned strength in the technical cadre, resulting in piling up of pending cases, stated the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
It is also observed that technical staff are being deployed without requisite qualifications. FSL, which provides technical and scientific assistance to the police by analysing samples collected from the crime scenes, is plagued by staff crunch and it is effecting speedy investigation of cases. The state has five Regional FSLs at Mysuru, Mangaluru, Davanagere, Kalaburagi and Belagavi apart from the Directorate of FSL in Bengaluru.
“Cadre & Recruitment rules for FSL staff, which was framed in 2001 sanctioned 148 technical and 135 ministerial posts. In July, 2015, additional 284 technical and 25 ministerial posts were sanctioned, for which, C&R rules were approved only during August 2017. Recruitment against these posts is yet to be initiated. As of March 2017, FSLs were working with 60 per cent of sanctioned strength in the technical cadre,” the CAG report stated.
It was also observed that technical staff working in various sections of the FSLs did not possess qualification/expertise required. While an Assistant Director of the biology section, who possesses Ph.D and MSc in Zoology was posted in the Cyber Forensics section that requires post graduation in computer science, forensic science, electronics or IT, a Scientific Officer and a Scientific Assistant with MSc in Zoology were posted in the Questions Documents section, that requires a master degree holder in physics or chemistry. Similarly, three Scientific Assistants, who had a Diploma in Cinematography were posted in the Cyber Forensics section while the qualification required was MSc in computer science, forensic science, electronics or IT, according to the report.
“Since the qualifications of the technical staff were not as per the requirement, it could adversely effect the quality of work output of FSL,” the report observed, while recommending to address the shortage of staff to expedite the clearance of pending cases in FSLs.
PENDING CASES
In 2016, FSLs received 21,052 cases and it was observed at the end of May 2017 that 3,946 cases were pending . Out of them, 1,052 cases pertained to 2016 while 99 of them were pending for more than three years. These were pending in the DNA section, which operates with the staff of Biology section of the DFSL instead of separate technical staff, the report said.
Finger-print scanner systems defunct
“In test-checked police stations, the live Finger Print Scanners issued for online transmission of finger print impressions to the district Finger Print Bureau (FPB) were not functioning due to software compatibility issues. In the absence of the facility, the police stations were manually collecting the finger print data and physically handing it over to the FPB, which was not only time consuming but also less accurate,” the report stated.