BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday observed that the sorry state of the State Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and state government’s failure to provide proper facility for the FSL is affecting the criminal justice system and fundamental rights of the accused. Initiating suo motu proceedings, a division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum issued notice to the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary, Home Department, DG and IGP, Inspector Generals Police of all Ranges, police commissioners of all cities, director of State FSL and deputy directors of all Regional FSLs.
The court directed the Home Secretary to file an affidavit detailing the filling of vacant posts in the FSL, making them operative, timeline for analysis of samples/articles sent to FSL, providing modern equipment to FSL and establishing modern regional labs or mobile labs for analysis of blood samples, etc.
The affidavit should also disclose immediate and long-term measures to improve the FSL’s functioning, the court said, asking the secretary to file it by March 15, 2021. The court initiated suo motu proceedings based on an order passed in a criminal plea in which there was delay of four years in the FSL report. The matter will be heard on March 18, 2021.
DRAGGING ON Samples Pending (as of Nov 30, 2020)
35,738 samples in 6,994 cases pending examination
6,868 samples under narcotics, 3,968 cases under DNA, 9,958 questioned documents
4,532 serious cases, including rape, murder, cybercrime, dowry deaths, explosives, POCSO and NDPS, pending due to non-receipt of FLS reports
Average analysis time: 1.5 yrs for DNA sample, 1 yr for drugs, 1.5 yrs for documents