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PREFACE
LL.B. Study Notes
313F Forensic Science, Law and Crime Detection Methods
CONTENTS
313F Forensic Science, Law and Crime Detection Methods
TOPIC Page
Module-1 :
1) History, Scope, Need and application of Forensic Science in Crime Detection :
1.1) History and scope of Forensic Science
1.2) Need of Forensic Science in understanding modus operandi of criminals as
well as Crime Investigation and Detection
1.3) Basic Principle of Criminal Jurisprudence relied in Forensic Science : ”Man
may lie, but circumstances cannot.”
1.4) Evidence collected through Forensic Science Techniques and Report of
Forensic Expert : Evidential value thereof
1.5) Various general techniques of Forensic Science used in detection of
crimes :
1.5.1) Blood-Alcohol Analysis
1.5.2) Toxicology Reports
1.5.3) Ballistic Expert Report regarding use of fire-arm or residues of
firearm parts at the scene of offence
1.5.4) Analysis of Body Fluids: Blood, Serum, saliva etc.
1.5.5) Reports of Handwriting Experts (in crimes of forgery) & Finger-print
Experts and identification of Handwriting in questioned documents
1.5.6) Identification of Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances like Opium,
Brown Sugar, Heroin etc.
1.5.7) Crime detection/investigation through Track marks: Foot Prints,
Naked Footprints etc.
MODULE-1 QUESTIONS :
➔ What is forensic science? Discuss about its origin, scope and contribution in
detection of crime. (Mar-2015)
✔ Define and explain the term “Forensic Science”. Discuss its importance in detection
of crimes. (Apr-2017)
✔ Discuss : Need of Forensic Science in understanding modus operandi of criminals
as well as Crime Investigation and Detection
✔ “Man may lie, but circumstances can not” Discuss this statement in the light of
significance of evidence gathered through forensic science techniques. (Mar-2015)
Write a note on evidence collected through Forensic Science Techniques.
(Mar-2014, Apr-2016)
MODULE-1 ANSWERS :
➔ What is forensic science? Discuss about its origin, scope and contribution in
detection of crime. (Mar-2015)
✔ Define and explain the term “Forensic Science”. Discuss its importance in detection
of crimes. (Apr-2017)
✔ Discuss : Need of Forensic Science in understanding modus operandi of criminals
as well as Crime Investigation and Detection
✔ “Man may lie, but circumstances can not” Discuss this statement in the light of
significance of evidence gathered through forensic science techniques. (Mar-2015)
The term originated from Roman times; when a criminal charge meant
presenting the case before a group of public individuals in the Forum. Both the
person accused of the crime and the victim would give speeches based on their
sides of the story. The individual with the best argument and delivery would
determine the outcome of the case.
This origin is the source of the two modern usages of the word forensic – as a
form of legal evidence and as a category of public presentation.
● The second term is ‘science’, which is derived from the Greek for knowledge and
is today closely tied to the scientific method, a systematic way of acquiring
knowledge.
Forensic evidence is a discipline that functions within the parameters of the legal
system. It provides guidance to those conducting civil/ criminal investigation and to
supply to courts accurate information upon which they can rely in resolving
disputes.
● Forensic Science links (or de-links) a Person/Suspect to a Crime Scene (or a
victim) through (i) objects left by him at the scene and with the victim or (ii)
carried from the scene and the victim.
ie Forensic Science helps investigators prove guilt (or innocence) of a person.
Forensic science has emerged as a significant constituent in an effort to control
crime while maintaining a high quality of justice.
The law enforcement officials have started becoming dependent on the laboratory
results.
In order to realize the concept of ‘society’, a ‘law’ was needed to be reinforced by
developing and applying the knowledge and technology of a science. Forensic
Science gradually developed and fulfilled the requirement.
✔ History of Forensic Science :
The roots of Forensic Science can be traced back to ancient Greek and Roman
civilizations which brought great advances in the field of various disciplines of
science including the science associated with criminal investigation.
Poisoning being one of the earliest methods of killing a human being, widespread
knowledge was gathered regarding its production and use.
Symptoms caused by various poisons were identified making it possible to detect
their use in previously undetected murders.
The first recorded autopsy was also conducted by a Roman physician Antistius in 44
B.C on the body of a slain king Julius Caesar to reach the conclusion that though
the king was stabbed 23 times, only one wound through his chest caused his
death.
13th Century China : The first case ever recorded using forensic science. When
someone was stabbed, all of the knives in the village were collected. Flies were
attracted to the traces of blood and landed on only one of the knives, causing the
suspect to confess.
In the beginning of the seventeenth century, advancements in sciences and
awakening of the social conscience resulted in revitalized interest in the field of
forensic science. This inquisitiveness necessitated new means to identify evidences
for the purpose of solving crimes.
Further, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a large number of incidents of
collection and scientific analysis of evidences in order to solve crimes and convict
the culprits were recorded. Evidentiary techniques included identifying foot prints,
matching a piece of crumbled newspaper used for wadding in a pistol to a torn
piece of paper in a suspect's pocket, matching clothing fibers and grains etc.
collected from a crime scene to those found on a suspect of a murder.
In the 19th century, it was observed that contact between someone's hands and a
surface left barely visible marks called fingerprints. Fine Powder Dusting technique
was used to make the marks more visible.
Surprisingly, while the use of scientific methods and techniques in criminal
investigations in some manner or another has been around since before the Roman
Empire, the idea of forensic science as a discipline and a career is hardly 100 years
old.
● It has only been within the last century that law enforcement agencies and the
court systems have come to rely so heavily on the use of scientific practices in
crime scene investigations.
Throughout history, there exist examples of analysis of various pieces of evidence
leading to convictions or acquittals that seem to fall in line with what we know and
recognize as Forensics.
Popular fictional character Sherlock Homes coined by Sir Arthur Covan Doyle was,
perhaps; the first person who introduced scientific crime detection methods to its
readers. Doyle described methods of detection much before they were discovered
and implemented by the scientists in real life.
● He used principles of serology, fingerprinting, firearm identification, and
questioned document examination in his fiction.
✔ Importance/ need of Forensic Science : Role of Forensic Scientists :
Forensic Science plays a very significant role in the detection of any crime; it acts
as an aid/tool to the investigation process.
It is a science through which all physical evidences are collected and tested by
forensic experts.
Often it has been viewed as a last resort in many of the cases and the reports of
forensic reports plays a very important role not only in terms of criminal justice
system but also in terms of civil lis and other matters.
Forensic scientists collect, preserve, and analyze scientific evidence during the
course of an investigation.
● It is required that, physical evidences should be collected from the scene of
crime in a proper manner, so that experts should be able to conduct the tests of
physical relevant evidences in the laboratories with proper reports.
While some forensic scientists travel to the scene of the crime to collect the
evidence themselves, others occupy a laboratory role, performing analysis on
objects brought to them by other individuals.
In addition to their laboratory role, forensic scientists testify as expert witnesses in
both criminal and civil cases and can work for either the prosecution or the
defense.
Skills Needed for a forensic expert :
● i. Good observation skills – use the 5 senses
● ii. Analytical skills – ability to identify the problem, organize info, draw
conclusions
● iii. Deductive reasoning – using logical steps to draw a conclusion based on facts
or evidence
Role of forensic expert : Typically, a forensic scientist may perform one/ many of
following roles :
● <for details refer to http://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/ahl.php?csrno=16 and
http://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/epgpdata/uploads/epgp_content/forensic_science/gen
eral_forensic/01._introduction_to_forensic_science/et/4761_et_01et.pdf>
● Information on the Corpus Delicti (literally, the "body of the crime")
● Information on the Modus Operandi
● Documentation of crime scene.
● Search, collection marking, packaging, analysis and documentation of evidences.
● Linking a Person/Suspect to a Crime Scene
● Linking a Suspect with a Victim
● Identification of a Suspect
● Supporting or Disproving a Witness's Testimony
● Providing Investigative Leads
● Eliminating a Suspect
● Give expert testimony.
✔ Law of Evidence and Expert opinion :
All the forensic reports or opinion of experts or opinion of third party when
relevant, are admissible under Section 45 of the Evidence Act, 1872 :
● Thereby, it is very evident that conviction cannot be granted only on the basis of
forensic report of an expert.
In State of Maharashtra v. Damu Gopinath Shinde, the Supreme Court has held
that,
● without examining the expert as a witness in the court, no reliance can be placed
on expert evidence.
✔ Principles of Forensic Science :
The laws and principles of all the natural sciences are the bases of forensic science.
In addition, it has developed its own principles which are as follows :
Law of individuality
Principle of exchange
Principle of recovery
Law of progressive change
Principle of comparison
Principle of analysis
Law of probability
Principle of Presentation
Law of individuality :
● The law of individuality is of fundamental importance in forensic science.
Anything and everything involved in a crime, has an individuality.
If the same is established, it connects the crime and the criminal .
● Every object, natural or man-made, has an individuality which is not duplicated
in any other object. This principle, at first sight appears to be contrary to
common beliefs and observations.
eg the grains of sand or seeds of plants or twins look exactly alike. Likewise,
man-made objects: coins of the same denomination made in the same mint,
currency notes printed with the same printing blocks one after the other
(excluding serial number) appear to be indistinguishable.
● Yet the individuality is always there. It is due to small flaws in the materials, in
the arrangement of the crystals, imperfect stamping or due to inclusions of some
extraneous matter.
Principle of exchange :
● No mention of the history of forensic science would be complete without
discussing the tremendous contributions made by Dr. Edmond Locard, a
French scientist and criminologist who had studied law and medicine.
Locard proposed the notion that "everything contact leaves a trace," a principle
that prevails in crime scene investigation even today.
IF a bullet is recovered from the deceased and experts opines that the bullet
has been fired from a firearm firing high velocity projectiles like a service rifle.
THEN, it is futile to send shotguns, pistols or revolvers as the possible suspect
firearm.
IF a bunch of hair is recovered from the hands of a deceased and experts
opine that the hair belong to a Negroid person, THEN hair from persons of
white races for comparison will not be of any use.
IF a questioned writing is found to have been writing with a ball pen, THEN to
send fountain pen as a likely instrument of writing is futile.
Principle of analysis :
● Improper sampling and contamination render the best analysis useless. The
principle emphasizes the necessity of correct sampling and correct packing for
effective use of experts.
Law of probability :
● All identifications, definite or indefinite, are made, consciously or unconsciously,
on the basis of probability.
● Probability is the mathematical concept. It determines the chances of occurrence
of a particular event in a particular way out of a number of ways in which the
event can take place or fail to take place with equal facility.
Principle of Presentation :
● Working within an ethical framework, a forensic scientist should fully disclose
and present impartial evidence which is readily understandable and neither
overstated nor understated.
● Full disclosure of all facts, assumptions, data, conclusions and interpretations
should be made.
● Lab report: Complete & retained.
● Forensic expert should not be an advocate for either side of the case at hand; it
is, however, to be expected that a forensic scientist will be an advocate for his or
her opinion.
● However, the forensic scientist should be prepared to change an opinion
whenever background circumstances or assumptions change, or new information
becomes available.
✔ Evidence collected through Forensic Science Techniques :
Meaning of Forensic Evidence :
● Evidence usable in a court, specially the one obtained by scientific methods such
as ballistics, blood test, and DNA test.
● Forensic evidence is,
evidence obtained by scientific methods such as ballistics, blood test, and DNA
review and repeatability of findings are used to try to ensure the validity of
scientific advances. Branches of natural science are Biology, Chemistry, , Physics,
Earth science, etc.
● (ii) Formal sciences are formal language disciplines concerned with formal
systems, such as logic, mathematics, statistics, theoretical computer science,
theoretical linguistics, etc.
But in last few centuries, it has also developed its own branches like fingerprints,
anthropometry, crime scene investigation, track marks, questioned document
examination and forensic ballistics.
● These are exclusive fields of Forensic Science.
Recently significant advances have been made in the field of serology, voice
analysis, brain fingerprinting, criminal profiling and narco analysis test etc.
The term forensic science is sometimes used as a synonym for criminalistics.
Both terms cover a diverse range of activities.
Forensic science, in a broader sense, includes forensic medicine, odontology;
anthropology; psychiatry; toxicology; questioned documents examination, and
firearm, tool mark, and fingerprint examinations, as well as criminalistics.
✔ Legality and Constitutional validity of Forensic Science techniques :
<Read from Module-2>
✔ Units of a “full-service” forensic laboratory :
While any field could technically be forensic, certain sections have developed over
time to encompass the majority of forensically related cases.
Different forensic laboratories have a variety of services due to local laws, the
capabilities of the agency, and budget limitations.
● The type of material collected from crime scenes or from articles of physical
evidence is identified and compared with the specimen provided.
● In some of the laboratories the DNA unit works as a separate division.
6. Forensic Medicine (legal medicine; medical jurisprudence) :
● It is the application of medicine and medical science to solve the legal problems.
● Practitioners of forensic medicine are doctors of medicine with specialty
certification in pathology and forensic pathology.
● Most of them are medical examiners. They are concerned with determining the
cause and circumstances in cases of questioned death.
● They have to deal with matters relating to insurance claims, and sometimes in
cases of medical malpractice also.
7. Forensic Toxicology :
● This branch of science deals with the determination of toxic substances present
in human tissues and organs.
● Most of the work concerns the role of toxic agents (chemicals or plant or others)
that might have played a role in causing or contributing to the death of a person.
● They also perform qualitative and quantitative analysis of the poisonous products
present in the viscera.
8. DNA analysis :
● Forensic DNA analysis was first used in 1984. It was developed by Sir Alec
Jefferys, who realized that variation in the genetic code could be used to identify
individuals and to tell individuals apart from one another.
● <Detailed discussion elsewhere in this doc>
9. Forensic Psychology :
● A forensic psychologist may be called upon to differentiate between criminal
behavior and human behavior that may be caused by a psychological imbalance.
● It is the intersection between psychology and the justice system. It involves
understanding criminal law in the relevant jurisdictions in order to be able to
interact appropriately with judges, attorneys and other legal professionals.
● It is concerned with collecting, examining, and presenting evidence to help
facilitate a legal decision. Within the legal system, forensic psychology provides a
means for being able to enforce the law while taking human behavior into
consideration.
● This unit includes, polygraphy tests, brain finger-printing, narco analysis, etc.
10. Fingerprint examination :
● It is mostly performed at Finger Print Bureau, which is mostly concerned with
the classification of fingerprints and the organization of sets of prints into usable
files.
● Development of latent prints at crime scene and comparisons of known and
unknown fingerprints are a major part of the work besides storing and building
data base of criminal finger prints.
● Controversy : More than 100 years after the first crime was solved with a
fingerprint, no one completely has proved even the basic assumption: that
everyone’s fingerprint is unique (for details refer to
https://nypost.com/2009/03/07/csi-without-a-clue/)
11. Voiceprint Analysis Unit :
● Attempts to tie a recorded voice to a particular suspect.
● Uses an instrument called a sound spectrograph to make a visual graphic display
called a voiceprint.
12. Firearm and Tool mark examination (Ballistics) :
● In most of the laboratories in India the firearm and tool mark division is a part of
Physical section but in some others it varies according to convenience and
number cases referred to the lab.
● Tools in the form of comparison microscope and others required for firearm
identification, comparison of markings on bullets and other projectiles, cartridge
cases, and shell cases, especially for the purpose of determining if a bullet has
been fired from a particular weapon.
● Tool mark examinations are concerned with the association of particular
impressions with particular tools.
13. Questioned Documents examination :
● This branch of Forensic science deals with the comparisons and interpretation of
handwriting, signatures, mechanically produced material (typed or printed), and
photocopied material.
● Analysis of papers, inks, and other materials used to produce documents may
also be analyzed.
Note :
● Some of the forensic science activities can be classified under more than one of
the major subdivisions as above. eg
Tool mark comparisons, for example, are sometimes considered as part of
criminalistics or physical section and sometimes as part of the separate
firearms and tool marks specialty.
Similarly, hair comparison is usually considered a part of criminalistics, but it
could just as well be considered a part of Forensic Biology.
● Any classification scheme for all the different activities is, therefore, somewhat
arbitrary.
● The range of human activity is so diverse that almost anything can be consider
physical evidence under one circumstance or another.
● In any civil, criminal, or regulatory matter, there can be physical evidence if
recognized, properly handled, and knowledgeably interpreted, can contribute
significantly to an understanding solving crime cases.
● No one person can be expert in all the sciences and their methods, and it is for
this reason that forensic science have develop subspecialties.
● Some forensic scientists are generalists. They have broad training and
experience in most of the basic areas of criminalistics, so can carry out a variety
of different physical-evidence examinations knowledgeably or more importantly,
refer specific aspects of a case to specialists.
➔ Explain with illustration “Blood alcohol analysis reports” of the experts prepared by
forensic science techniques and importance thereof in crime detection. (Mar-2015)
✔ Explain the following Forensic Science technique of “Blood alcohol analysis” and its
importance in detection of crime. (Apr-2017)
ANSWER :
✔ Refer :
http://medind.nic.in/jal/t09/i3/jalt09i3p291.pdf
✔ Intro :
Throughout the recorded history, alcoholic beverages have been used in many
societies for many purposes - as psychoactive substances, intoxicants, liquids to
quench thirst, sources of calories, etc.
Whatever the social and personal valuation of the alcoholic beverage use, positive
or negative or mixed; drinking alcoholic beverages carries with it some potential for
social and health harm, both to the drinker and to others. Some harms are
immediate, notably injuries and other harms associated with intoxication or an
elevated blood alcohol level. Others are more long-term, such as cumulative
damage to family or work life or social position, or chronic damage to health, etc.
A large number of medico-legal issues also arise as a result of the use/abuse of
alcohol.
Due to the various undesirable effects that alcohol produces on the human body;
every nation has laws that regulate its production, sale and consumption, as also
the maximum permissible Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC), while driving a
vehicle.
A person may be said to be intoxicated if he not only shows the symptoms of
having consumed the intoxicant (alcohol), but his actions are also affected by such
intoxicant.
Drinking of alcohol per se is not an offence in our country except in the state of
Gujarat where it is prohibited. However, driving, causing public nuisance or
endangering property or life, even one's own, after consuming alcohol, is an
offence.
There is no single test which itself would be sufficient to decide that the amount of
alcohol consumed had caused the person to lose control of his faculties to such an
extent as to render him unable to execute safely the occupation in which he was
engaged at that material time.
In India permissible upper limit of Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) is 30 mg % .
✔ The question of consent :
Consent is essential for every medico-leqal examination.
The consent to be taken in these cases is the written, informed one; wherein the
person is told the nature and purpose of the examination as also that the findings
of the examination so performed may go against him.
Consent for conducting any relevant investigations including sample collection, is
also a part of the informed consent to be taken before the start of the examination.
The term informed Consent is a legal principle in medical jurisprudence that
generally holds that a physician must disclose to a person sufficient information to
enable the him to make an "informed" decision about a proposed treatment or
procedure.
Informed consent is a person's agreement to allow something to happen, made
with the full knowledge of the risks involved and the alternatives available.
For a consent to be informed or legally valid, it must adequately address three
essential elements : information, competency and voluntariness.
● Each of these components must be met else any given consent will not be legally
valid or Informed.
In the case of a person who has consumed alcohol, taking the consent has some
innate problems because of the fact that even if the accused had readily
consented for the said examination and the examination completed on basis of the
consent, after which the examining doctor opines that the accused "was under the
influence of alcohol", the said consent, taken prior to the examination, becomes
legally invalid.
● In these cases, the doctor should not divulge the results or the conclusions until
the individual has become sober and, gives a valid consent; unless there is an
explicit direction from the magistrate/ court to divulge the results immediately.
Toxicity rating and toxicity classification can be used for regulatory purposes.
● Toxicity rating is an arbitrary grading of doses or exposure levels causing toxic
effects. These grading may be “super toxic,” “highly toxic,” “moderately toxic”
and so on.
● Toxicity classification concerns the grouping of chemicals into general
categories according to their most important toxic effect. Such categories can
include allergenic, neurotoxic, and carcinogenic, etc. This classification can be of
administrative value as a warning and as information.
✔ Detection of poison :
Poisons are generally detected in body fluids such as urine, blood, or gastric lavage
during life, while they are detected in the contents of stomach, bowel and the
viscera, besides urine and vomitus, after death.
In a cadaver, one of the better samples to complement blood is vitreous humor, for
the reason that it is less likely to degrade quickly, and is equitably easy to collect at
time of autopsy.
Forensic toxicological analysis has traditionally focused on the use of body fluids
including blood along with certain organs in examinations of deaths due to
intoxication.
● In some circumstances (eg exhumation), bone marrow might be useful as an
alternative specimen since it is a potential depot for drugs.
The science of toxicology has expanded to include a wide range of interests,
including,
● the evaluation of the risks involved in the use of pharmaceuticals, pesticides,
and food additives,
● as well as studies of occupational poisoning, exposure to environmental
pollution, the effects of radiation, and, biological and chemical warfare.
✔ Toxicology Reports :
The toxicology reports furnish key information about the nature of substances
present in an individual pertaining to an incidence.
It also determines whether the quantity of substances are normal as per a
therapeutic dosage or exceed the permissible level.
The interpretation of results can often be the most difficult job of the toxicologist.
The analyst must understand the effects of a particular substance, what possible
interactions it may have with other drugs or natural disease processes, and an
understanding of what happens to toxins in the body over a period of time.
The analysis report may contain a variety of information depending on the type of
testing requested. For example,
● a report for a court file may need to be broader than for a negative drug test in
➔ Explain with illustration “Ballistic expert reports” of the experts prepared by forensic
➔ Explain with illustration the importance of analysis of body fluids like blood, serum,
and saliva in detecting the case of murder and rape. (Apr-2017)
ANSWER :
✔ Refer :
http://aboutforensics.co.uk/bodily-fluids-analysis/
http://www.exploreforensics.co.uk/bodily-fluids-in-forensic-science.html
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9028/d4841955cd66568777a84a6c0b8062a83d3d
.pdf
http://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/epgpdata/uploads/epgp_content/S000016FS/P000699/M
011527/ET/1516257111FSC_P12_M1_e-Text.pdf
✔ Intro :
Body fluid traces recovered at crime scenes are among the most important types of
evidence to forensic investigators.
Determining whether or not there is a body fluid present,
● and subsequently identifying it allows the sample to undergo further laboratory
testing including DNA analysis which is a very crucial step in a wide range of
investigations.
The first step of identifying a particular body fluid is highly important since the
nature of the fluid is itself very informative to the investigation, and the destructive
nature of a screening test must be considered when only a small amount of
material is available.
The ability to characterize an unknown stain at the scene of the crime without
having to wait for results from a laboratory is another very critical step in the
development of forensic body fluid analysis.
Body fluids - if detected at a crime scene - are swabbed, bagged and collected in
vials, which are air tight and at low risk of cross contamination.
Visualisation techniques may be employed at an incident scene to initially locate
potential body fluids.
● Appropriate chemicals and ultra violet light can be deployed to uncover the
existence of any of these fluids in circumstances where they might be
overlooked.
● For instance alternative light sources (ALS). An ALS utilises different
wavelengths of light to visualise otherwise invisible or ambiguous stains, with
some even having the ability to show stains that have been wiped clean or
covered by paint.
✔ Types of Bodily Fluid :
There are many different types of bodily fluid that are secreted by the body and are
also present within the body at any given time.
These fluids may be useful in helping forensic scientists and pathologists put
together a detailed picture of how an individual died and likewise may also present
means of identifying the perpetrator.
● Although this particular bodily fluid may is not commonly encountered at most
crime scenes, it can be of vital importance in the investigation of sexual assault
cases
✔ Importance of body fluids in crime detection :
There is no single method for the analysis of all body fluids, and it may be
necessary to employ multiple techniques depending on the type of body fluid.
Body fluids contain valuable DNA evidence which can identify a suspect or victim
as well as exonerate an innocent individual.
Once the body fluid and its type are determined,
● further scientific/ pathologial test, including DNA finger printing, may be used to
link victim/ suspect to the crime scene.
establish the guilt or innocence of possible suspects.
Identify victims.
➔ Discuss about the evidential value of evidences gathered by the handwriting experts
and finger-print experts before the court. (Apr-2017)
✔ Explain with illustration “Handwriting expert reports” of the experts prepared by
forensic science techniques and importance thereof in crime detection. (Mar-2015)
ANSWER :
✔ Refer :
http://www.isca.in/FORENSIC_SCI/Archive/v4/i6/1.ISCA-RJFS-2016-006.pdf
✔ Hand Writing Experts :
Section 47 of the Evidence Act 1872 deals with the opinion as to the handwriting.
The explanation to Section 47 elaborates the circumstances under which a person
is said to have known the disputed handwriting.
A person who deposes the evidence is not necessary to be a handwriting expert.
The knowledge and general character of any person’s handwriting which a witness
has acquired incidentally and unintentionally, under no circumstance of suspicion
will be considered far more satisfactory than the most elaborate comparison of an
expert.
Sec-47 envisages that one can get acquainted with others handwriting in many
ways.
● For example : The witness might be receiving letters from a particular person
regularly.
Three patterns of fingerprints. (A) arches; (B) loops; and (C) whorls
Fingerprint Expert :
● Forensic fingerprint experts are also known as latent print examiners and use
their exceptional knowledge to analyze finger- and footprint clues left at crime
scenes.
● These forensic scientists are typically employed by local or state police precincts.
● Fingerprint analysts must be available at a moment's notice to sweep a crime
scene for clues.
● Law enforcement works quickly to secure a crime scene in order for fingerprint
experts to uncover clean, undisturbed finger- or footprints to analyze.
● The examiner must carefully lift any fingerprints using a fingerprint brush, black
and bi-chromatic powder, lifting tape and fingerprint cards.
● From there, the examiner must carefully preserve the specimen for lab analysis,
which involves using complex computer software and microscopic imaging.
● The fingerprints are then loaded into state or national databases for comparison
with other convicted criminals or missing persons.
● Examiners must be on call to attend a crime scene at all hours and may have to
work in hazardous or dangerous conditions.
● Fingerprint experts also serve as expert witnesses in criminal or civil trials.
National Crime Records Bureau :
● The Central Finger Print Bureau better known by acronym, CFPB came into being
in 1955 in Calcutta (now Kolkata) under the administrative control of the
Intelligence Bureau.
● In 1973 the administrative control was transferred to CBI.
● In July, 1986 the CFPB was finally placed under the administrative control of the
Module-2 :
2) Forensic Psychology Techniques, Crime Detection/Investigation and Law :
2.1) Forensic Psychology Techniques and importance thereof
2.2) Various types of Forensic Psychology Techniques used in Crime
Detection :
2.2.1) Lie Detection Test and its procedure
2.2.2) Polygraph Test and its techniques
2.2.3) Brain Mapping Test and procedure thereof
2.2.4) Narco Analysis Test (Truth Serum Test)
2.2.5) Hypnotism
2.3) Constitutional validity of Forensic Psychology Techniques in context with
Fundamental Right of Self Incrimination under Article 20(3) and 22 of the
Constitution
2.4) Drawbacks and Hazards of Forensic Psychology Techniques
2.5) Evidential Value of confession of the accused made through or evidences
gathered through Forensic Psychology Techniques
2.6) Judicial approach about acceptance of evidence gathered by Forensic
Psychology Techniques
MODULE-2 QUESTIONS :
MODULE-2 ANSWERS :
● To conceal the excitement which the person attempts, adrenal glands are
stimulated to secrete Adrenalin, which on entering the blood stream, sets up the
blood pressure and rate of pulse and respiration.
● All these psychological changes when recorded are collectively called Polygram,
which is analysed and evaluate to find out whether during the lie detection test,
the subject experienced emotional stress with any of the questions asked.
Such examination is performed on the basis of supposition that there is an intimate
contact between mind and body and is performed by different components or the
sensors of the Polygraph machine, which are attached to the body of the suspected
person’s body that is being cross-examined.
The principle behind the test is that the suspect fears detection of his/her lie and
creates in him/her an emotion of fear which consequently results in psychological
changes which are captured by different instrument.
The blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration and muscle movements details etc
recorded by the machine.
✔ Procedure :
This test is conducted at three stages namely
● pretest interview,
● chart recording and
● diagnosis.
The examiners arrange a set of questions which depend upon the relevant
information about the case which is provided by the investigation machinists such
as the charges against the person and statements made by the suspects.
The reaction which occurs during the examination of the suspect is recorded and
measured.
A baseline is created by the examiner by asking few question answer of which is
already known to him.
Whether a person is lying or not is recognized by behavioural and psychological
changes, which the graph exposes.
The sign of lie is derived from the base line.
All such evidence is then corroborated with the other evidence collected .
Keeler further developed the Polygraph machine by adding psycho-galvanometer,
which would record electrical resistance of the skin.
✔ Modern Advances :
Polygraph (Lie-Detector) is based on the principle of psychosomatic interactions of
an individual
● ie psychologically a change in a person's deliberately held feeling produces a
defense reaction in the form of physiological changes in his blood pressure, pulse
rate, respiration and electro-dermal response(GSR).
The main modernization in the Polygraph has been the introduction of computer to
record and analyse the physiological reaction and data, although a few innovations
in the input devices to increase the number of recording, to reduce the discomfort
and decrease the time for testing have also come up.
Computerized Polygraphs have the following advantages :
● Operational training need less time
● make available better interpretable data
● No frequent calibrations as in traditional Polygraphs due to pen distortion.
✔ Conclusion :
The successful process of Polygraph depends on the experience, personality,
integrity of the examiner, proper operational environment and interrogation room.
"Brain finger printing” is supposed to be a good lie detector and is said to perceive
even smooth criminals who pass the Polygraph test (the predictable lie detector
test) with ease.
● Even if the person willingly suppresses the necessary information, the brain
wave is sure to trap him, according to the experts.
✔ Procedure :
In this technique, the suspect is first interviewed and interrogated to find out
whether he is concealing any important information.
Then sensors are attached to the head and the person is made to sit in front of a
computer monitor.
He is then shown and made to hear certain images and voice.
The sensor attached to head monitors and records electrical activity and P300
waves in the brain, which is produced only if the subject has link with stimulus .
The subject is not asked any question.
To put it simply, it simply means that brain finger printing matches the information
stored in the brain with that of the related crime and crime scene.
In case of an innocent person no such P300 waves would get registered during the
test.
✔ Utility/ Limitations :
Even after the validity of the technique of brain fingerprinting satisfies Daubert's
criteria (Daubert standard is a rule of evidence regarding the admissibility of expert
witnesses' testimony), its application as a forensic tool in individual cases will
depend upon the genuineness of the investigation and other factors.
The method would not be definitive in a case in which investigators do not have
sufficient information about a crime to be able to test a suspect for crime-relevant
information stored in the brain.
Proof produced by Expert in a criminal trial would be just a fraction of the totality of
the evidence on the appreciation of which the judge or jury takes judgment.
● The Court takes into account all the other proofs at hand along with the view of
the scientific expert, which is just one piece of evidence needed to be taken into
consideration and appreciated for its evidentiary value.
The brain-fingerprinting analysis identifies the existence or nonexistence of
information and not the guilt or innocence per se. Sometimes, a person may
possess much of the available information about a crime, although he is not a
perpetrator. In such cases, possessing relevant information with respect to crime
will not recognize that individual as the perpetrator and the test cannot be applied
to solve the case.
● eg The test would not be applicable in a case in which two suspects in an
investigation were both present at a crime, but one was a witness and the other
a perpetrator.
● The method can only detect information from their memory that would place
both at the scene of the crime and it cannot decide what their roles were,
thereby creating a distinct possibility of an innocent eye-witness becoming a
suspect of the crime and giving a dubious opportunity to the real culprit to
create a situation of doubt.
✔ Precautions required for reliability of Brain Mapping Test :
The judges and the lawyers must be able to do following five things for reliability of
Brain Mapping Test :
● (i) Identify and examine the proffered theory and hypothesis for their power to
explain the data;
● (ii) Examine the data that supports (and undermines) the expert's theory;
● (iii) Use supportable assumptions to fill the inevitable gaps between data and
theory;
● (iv) Examine the methodology; and
● (v) Engage in probabilistic assessment of the link between the data and the
hypothesis.
Above heuristics emphasizes the underlying principles common to all fields of
science.
➔ “Narco test is a mental third degree torture” Discuss this statement after explaining
the procedure of Narco Test and its constitutional validity. (Apr-2017)
ANSWER :
✔ Refer :
Intro
Admissibility of DNA profiling in legal proceedings
Relevant legal provisions
● Constitution of India
● Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
● Indian Penal Code 1860
● Evidence Act
● Code Of Civil Procedure, 1908
FRs under Art-20(3) and Art-21
● Does forensic evidence violate Art-21 (right to privacy)?
● Does forensic evidence violate Art-20(3)?
Who is competent to collect and preserve DNA evidence?
Criminal Laws : 2005 Amendment in CrPC
Evidence Act
● Evidential value of report of a ‘forensic expert’
Parental Identification using DNA Profiling and its Constitutional validity
Burden of proof
Drawing Blood and Legal Questions
Position in Civil Law
Position in Criminal Law
Conclusion
✔ Intro :
<This answer is largely DNA specific. However, major part discussion is also
relevant to legality of other forensic tests including forensic psychology. Text of
the answer needs re-working.>
In India, the application of forensic science to crime investigation and trial has to
stand the limitation of law.
● a) What is the constitutional validity of such techniques?
● b) To what extent does the law allow the use of forensic techniques in crime
investigation?
● c) What is the evidentiary value of the forensic information obtained from the
experts?
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 11, states:
● "Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent
until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the
guarantees necessary for his defence."
The introduction of the DNA technology has posed serious challenge to some legal
and fundamental rights of an individual such as
● “Right to privacy”, which has been included under Right to Life and Personal
liberty or Article 21 of the Indian Constitution
● “Right against Self-incrimination”, Article 20(3) provides Right against Self-
Incrimination which protects an accused person in criminal cases from providing
evidences against himself or evidence which can make him guilty.
Hence, courts sometimes are reluctant in accepting the evidence based on DNA
technology.
But it has been held by the Supreme Court on several occasions that,
● Right to Life and Personal Liberty is not an absolute Right.
Except for (i) DNA profiling, and (ii) forensic psychological techniques, most other
forensic evidence are admissible u/s 45 of Evidence Act as “opinions of experts”.
● Courts take them in to consideration and give due weightage (depending upon
specific facts and circumstances of the case/ evidence) while deciding legal
issues.
✔ Admissibility of DNA profiling in legal proceedings :
The admissibility of the DNA evidence always depends on,
its accurate and proper collection, preservation and documentation
● which can satisfy the court that the evidence which has been put in front it is
reliable.
There is no specific legislation which which can provide specific guidelines to the
investigating agencies and the court, and the procedure to be adopted in the cases
involving DNA as its evidence.
Moreover, there is no specific provision under Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and Code
of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to manage science, technology and forensic science
issues.
Due to absence of specific legislation on DNA technology, the court cannot compel a
person to go for DNA or blood test because it amounts to breach of right to privacy.
Due to lack of having any such provision, an investigating officer has to face much
trouble in collecting evidences which involves modern mechanism to prove the
accused person guilty.
✔ Relevant legal provisions : Following are the relevant legal provisions which deal
directly or indirectly with the use, and application of DNA technology,
Constitution of India :
● Article-20(3) :
No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against
himself.
● Article-21 :
No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to
procedure established by law.
● Article-22(1) :
No person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed,
as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest
• nor shall he be denied the right to consult, and to be defended by, a legal
practitioner of his choice.
● Article 51A(h) Fundamental Duties : it shall be the duty of every citizen of India
to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and
reform;
● Article 51A(j) Fundamental Duties : it shall be the duty of every citizen of India
to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity
so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of Endeavour and
achievement.
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 :
● Section 125, 53, 54, 156
(i) Section-125- Maintenance of children (both illegitimate legitimate), parents
and wife
(ii) Section-53- Examination of an accused by medical practitioner at the
request of police officer
(iii) Section-54- Examination of the arrested person by medical practitioner at
the request of arrested person
(iv) Section-156- Police officer's power to investigate cognizable cases.
Indian Penal Code 1860 :
● Use of DNA Technology in administration of criminal justice system is permitted
in following offences :
(i) The offences affecting the human body (Sections – 299, 300, 301, 304A,
304B, 306, 312, 313, 314, 315).
(ii) Sexual offences (Sections – 375, 376, 376B, 376C, 376D).
(iii) Offences against marriage (Section – 497).
Evidence Act :
● Sec. 73 of the Indian Evidence Act empowers the court to direct any person
● Deciding SLP in the case of Rohit Shekhar vs Narayan Dutt Tiwari & Anr,
Supreme Court refused to dismiss the Delhi High court‘s decision ordering
veteran congress leader N D Tiwari to undergo the DNA test.
N D Tiwari had taken ground of violation of his privacy as a result of court
order directing authorities to take his blood sample.
Supreme Courts dismissal of N D Tiwari’s SLP is very important from the
viewpoint of the admissibility of such evidence.
In this case, Rohit Shekhar has claimed to be the biological son of N.D. Tiwari,
but N.D. Tiwari was reluctant to undergo such test stating that it would be the
violation of his Right to privacy and would cause him public humiliation.
But Supreme Court rejected this point stating when the result of the test would
not be revealed to anyone and it would under a sealed envelope, there is no
point of getting humiliated.
Supreme Court further stated that we want young man to get justice; he
should not left without any remedy.
Does forensic evidence violate Art-20(3)?
● There are questions as to whether forensic evidence violates Art. 20(3) of Indian
Constitution or not.
● The Supreme Court has held that,
being compelled to give fingerprints does not violate the constitutional
safeguards given in Art. 20(3).
● Legality of DNA testing :
In The State of Bombay v. KathiKaluOghad& Others, the court held that,
• giving thumb impression, specimen signature, blood, hair, semen etc by the
accused do not amount to ‘being a witness’ within the meaning of the said
Article.
• The accused, therefore, has no right to object to DNA examination for the
purposes of investigation and trial.
● Legality of forensic psychology tests :
Accepted :
• The Bombay High Court in another significant verdict in the case of,
Ramchandra Reddy and Ors. v.State of Maharashtra,
• upheld the legality of the use of P300 or Brain finger-printing, lie-detector
test and the use of truth serum or narco analysis.
• In the fake stamp paper scam Abdul Karim Telgi,
• The court upheld a special court order allowing SIT to conduct scientific
tests on the accused.
• The verdict also maintained that the evidence procured under the effect
of truth serum is also admissible.
• In a 2006 judgment, Dinesh Dalmia v State, the Madras High Court held
that
• subjecting an accused to narco-analysis does not tantamount to
testimony by compulsion.
Rejected :
• However, in a subsequent case, Selvi & Ors v. State of Karnataka & Anr, the
Supreme Court questioned the legitimacy of the involuntary administration
of certain scientific techniques for the purpose of improving investigation
efforts in criminal cases. The Supreme Court held that,
• brain mapping and polygraph tests were inconclusive and thus their
compulsory usage in a criminal investigation would be unconstitutional.
✔ Who is competent to collect and preserve DNA evidence?
Question lies as to whether every medical practitioner is capable to collect and
preserve DNA evidence.
It is a well known fact that DNA evidence is entirely dependent upon proper
collection and preservation of sample. Any simple mistake or unawareness can
contaminate the sample and contaminated sample is of no use.
✔ Criminal Laws :2005 Amendment in CrPC :
Criminal laws also considers an accused as innocent until his guilt is established
beyond reasonable doubt.
CrPC 1973 was amended in 2005 to enable the collection of a host of medical
details from accused persons upon their arrest.
Section 53 :
● upon arrest, an accused person may be subjected to a medical examination if
there are “reasonable grounds for believing” that such examination will afford
evidence as to the crime.
The scope of this examination was expanded in 2005 to include,
● the examination of blood, blood-stains, semen, swabs in case of sexual offences,
sputum and sweat, hair samples and finger nail clippings
by the use of modern and scientific techniques including DNA profiling and
such other tests which the registered medical practitioner thinks necessary in a
particular case.
However, said 2005 Amendment is limited to rape cases only.
This section also does not enable a complainant to collect blood, semen, etc, for
bringing criminal charges against the accused; neither does it apply to complaint
cases.
Similarly in the famous Tandoor murder case, the DNA samples of the victim
Naina Sahni were compared with that of her parents to establish her identity.
✔ Burden of proof :
The raison d’être under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, is against the
illegitimization of a child (as bastard) and the public policy is that no child should
suffer due to lapses on the part of their parents.
It is well established that,
● when certain fact is considered as conclusive proof of another fact,
● the judiciary generally disables the party in disrupting such proof .
The only exception occurs when, a party is able to show that there was no access
to the other party when the conception could have taken place.
Whenever paternity is contested, the burden of proof is on the party pleading
negative.
✔ Drawing Blood and Legal Questions :
It goes without saying that a blood/DNA test can only be conducted if blood or DNA
samples are taken.
● In case, blood/DNA samples are otherwise available, it has to be further proved
that these truly belong to the donor or the person in question and further that
these match with the specimen samples.
Unless samples are taken for matching – comparison, a report cannot be obtained
from an expert and the chances of comparison would not arise.
What would be the position when any sample is not available and the person
whose blood/DNA test is to be undertaken does not consent to give it, or is a
minor/child? Whether a sample of blood for DNA test can be taken by force?
Due to absence of specific legislation on DNA technology, the court cannot compel a
person to go for DNA or blood test because it amounts to breach of right to privacy
under Art-20(3).
Courts can only direct the parties to the criminal case or civil suits to go for the
same, but it in criminal case for the interest of the victim and welfare of then state
as a part of public policy and to give justice to victim there arise the question of
right to information from the concerned person who is suppose to disclose the
relevant facts to establish the conclusive proofs during the judicial proceedings
before the courts of law.
✔ Position in Civil Law :
The call for DNA test on civil side is generally made to settle the paternity issue
involved in cases of divorce, maintenance, inheritance and succession etc.
One view is that when modern science gives means of ascertaining the paternity of
a child, there should not be any hesitation to use those means whenever the
occasion requires.
● The other view is that the court must be reluctant in use of such scientific
advances and tools which result in invasion of right to privacy of an individual
and may not only be prejudicial to the rights of the parties but may also have
devastating effect on the child
because, the result of such scientific test MAY bastardise an innocent child
even though his mother and her spouse were living together during the time of
conception).
Hence, dealing with civil cases, Courts in India have adopted a trend that a party
cannot be compelled to give sample of blood for blood group tests. Therefore such
a sample cannot be collected against the will of such a person.
Courts in India have adopted this general trend, in the absence of any statutory
law in the field.
It is noteworthy that Section 112 of the Evidence Act provides for the legitimacy of
a child born during wedlock and the only ground to rebut this presumption is,
non access of the husband.
● ie IF it is established that the husband had no to his wife, THEN the court gives
priority to DNA test under Section 45 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 over the
legitimate presumption under Section 112 of Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
Thus at one point of time it was an issue before the court dealing with paternity
issues whether such test could be ordered.
This issue was discussed at length in Gautam Kundu vs. Bengal where the division
bench of apex court, inter alia, laid down certain note-worthy guidelines regarding
DNA test and their admissibility in the parentage case :
● 1. The courts in India cannot order blood test as a matter of course.
● 2. Whenever application is made for such prayer in order to have roving enquiry,
the prayer of blood test cannot be entertained.
● 3. There must be strong prima facie case in which,
the husband must have established non-access in order to dispel the
presumption arising under section 112 of Indian Evidence Act, 1872,
● 4. The court should carefully examine as to what would be the consequence of
ordering the blood test.
● 5. No one can be compelled to give blood sample for analysis.
● The Apex Court upholding Madras High Court observed that,
it required to be carefully noted no person can be compelled to give sample of
blood for analysis against (his or) her will and that no adverse inference can
be drawn against (him or) her for such a refusal.
● What weighed the mind of the Apex Court appears to be the effect over the
paternity of a child, since there was likelihood for terming him bastard.
However subsequently a full bench of the Supreme Court in Sharda v Dharmpal
considered the power of a matrimonial court to order such test and clarified that,
● Goutam Kundu (supra) is not an authority for the proposition that under no
circumstances the Court can direct that blood tests be conducted.
● It, having regard to the future of the child, has, of course, sounded a note of
caution as regard mechanical passing of such order.
● The Court after hefty discussion summed up three significant conclusions :
A matrimonial court has the power to order a person to undergo medical test .
Passing of such an order by the court would not be in violation of the right to
personal liberty under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
However, the Court should exercise such a power if the applicant has a strong
prima facie case and there is sufficient material before the Court.
If despite the order of the court, the respondent refuses to submit himself to
medical examination, the court will be entitled to draw an adverse inference
against him. <Note that court did not order use of force for getting respondent
medically examined>
In Hargovinda Soni v. Ram Dularey, (Ram pal Singh.J.), The Madhya Pradesh High
Court was categorically of the opinion that no person can be compelled to give a
sample of blood against consent.
● In a case where a party does not consent for giving his sample for blood or DNA
fingerprint test, the maximum the Courts can do is to draw an adverse inference
against that party for such refusal.
However, in some cases it has been held that the Courts are seized to inherent
powers, which can be exercised ex debito justitiae.
Bombay High Court was also of the considered opinion that though a Court can
direct respondent to give blood sample, it cannot compel her to do so. Bombay
High Court, however, clearly held that the Court lacked powers in enforcing the
giving of blood samples in case of failure to do so, even inspite, of the directions by
the Court. It ultimately favored for merely drawing an adverse inference in case
there was a clear denial for giving such samples.
Yet, in another case R.P. Uloganambi v. K. C. Loganayaki, the Madras High Court
has gone to the extent holding that a party having consented to give such a sample
on one stage of the proceedings can validly make a withdrawal of such an offer and
the principle of estoppels (Section 115 of Evidence Act) would not come across.
In case of Kanti Devi v Poshi Ram the Supreme Court held that
● even a DNA test that indicated that the person is not the father of the child
would not be enough to rebut the conclusiveness of marriage as proof of
legitimacy of child.
In case of Sharad v. Dharmapal AIR 2003 SC 3450 the Supreme Court in divorce
proceedings again considered the question of compulsion to undergo medical
examination and held that,
● it was well within the power of the Court to compel such examination.
✔ Position in Criminal Law :
It is again interesting to observe that the Criminal Law is also significantly silent on
such a power of a “Court to direct the talking of blood samples for blood/DNA
analysis.
A single Judge of Gujarat High Court in Najabhai v. State of Gujarat, has held that
● the bar of Article 20(3) of the Constitution of India would extend with regard to
compelling the accused to submit himself to medical examination also.
● However, this proposition runs contradictory to a decision by Apex Court in State
of Bombay v. Khthikalu, wherein, such examinations were held not included
within the meaning of becoming a witness.
In the case of Ananth Kumar v. ST. of A.P 1997, CR. L.J. 1797, referring to the
powers conferred under Section 53, Cr.P.C. the Andhra Pradesh High Court has held
that,
● although there is no clear provision in Cr. P.C. for taking such blood samples, yet
there is no prohibition for taking such blood samples of an accused by exercising
powers under Section 53 Cr. P.C.
● The Court observed that taking samples of blood and semen would come within
the scope of examination of the person of the arrested person and therefore,
“examination of a person by a medical practitioner must logically take in
examination by testing his blood, sputum, semen, urine etc.
● The Court further held that Section 53 provides the use of such force as it
reasonably necessary for making such an examination.
On the other hand, in the case of Jamshed v. st. of U.P. 1760 CR. LAW. J.1680, a
Division Bench of Allahabad High Court dealing with a criminal case, was of the
view that
● though there was no specific provision in Indian Law permitting taking of blood
yet in a criminal case, an examination of person can be made under Section
53(1) of the Cr. P.C. which shall include the taking of blood samples, including
an examination of an organ inside the body.
● The Court drew the aforesaid conclusion per force the provisions of Section
367(1) and Section 482 of the Cr. P.C.
● It also held that there is nothing repulsive of shaking to conscience in taking the
blood of an accused person in order to establish his guilt and so far as the
question of causing hurt is concerned, even causing some pain may be
permissible under Section 53, Cr. P.C.
Module-3 :
3) Recent Forensic Science Techniques for Crime Detection and Future Challenges
:
3.1) Cyber Crime detection through forensic science
3.1.1) Retrieving the data from Computer Hard-disk
3.1.2) Retrieving SMS/MMS from mobile after having been deleted
3.1.3) Detecting E-mail Hackers, Website Hackers and Computer Hackers
3.1.4) Tracking of E-mails in locating the criminals
3.1.5) Tracking offences of Electronic Fund Transfer and related crimes
Tracking offences related to Digital Signature, Software Piracy and
other related crimes
3.2) Use of Facial Reconstruction and Skull Superimposition Techniques in
crime detection
3.3) Voice Identification Technique
3.4) DNA Profiling: meaning
3.4.1) Importance and Nature of DNA Profiling
3.4.2) Evidentiary clue materials of DNA Profiling: Hair, Body Tissues etc.
3.4.3) Parental Identification and its Constitutional validity - Fundamental
Right under Article 20(3) not available in Civil Proceedings
3.4.4) Judicial Pronouncements
3.5) Future Challenges to Forensic Sciences in countering the Global Terrorism,
Cyber Terrorism and other technical offences
MODULE-3 QUESTIONS :
➔ Explain the major cyber crimes and the forensic cyber crime detection techniques
to detect the same. (Apr-2017)
✔ Discuss in detail how forensic science helps in detection of cyber crime. (Apr-2016)
✔ Fully discuss about Cyber crimes. (Mar-2014)
➔ Discuss : Retrieving the data from Computer Hard-disk.
➔ Discuss : Retrieving SMS/MMS from mobile after having been deleted.
➔ Discuss : Detecting E-mail Hackers, Website Hackers and Computer Hackers.
➔ Discuss : Tracking of E-mails in locating the criminals
MODULE-3 ANSWERS :
➔ Explain the major cyber crimes and the forensic cyber crime detection techniques
to detect the same. (Apr-2017)
✔ Discuss in detail how forensic science helps in detection of cyber crime. (Apr-2016)
✔ Fully discuss about Cyber crimes. (Mar-2014)
ANSWER :
✔ Refer :
http://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/ahl.php?csrno=16 -
● “6311_et_6311_et_et.pdf”,
● “1516274597fsc_p16_m19_e-text.pdf”
● “1456989303fsc_p16_m32_e-text.pdf”
https://www.slideshare.net/HarshitaVed/cyber-law-forensics-63182150
https://www.slideshare.net/santanukumardas94/cyber-crime-and-forensic
✔ Outline :
Intro
What is meant by ‘cyber’ and “cyber crime”?
Difference between cyber-crime and computer crime
Distinction between cyber-crimes and conventional crimes
Cyber criminals and their objectives
2010 Cost of Cyber Crimes in India
Classification of Cyber Crimes : <There are obvious overlaps>
● 1. Crimes against Individual : (a) Email spoofing, (b) Spamming, (c) Cyber
defamation, (d) Cyber stalking, (e) Carding, (f) Cheating & Fraud, (g) Assault by
Threat
● 2. Crimes against Property : (a) Credit card fraud, (b) IPR crimes, (c) Internet
time theft, (d) Cyber vandalism, (e) Cyber squatting
● 3. Crimes against Organization : (a) Unauthorized access to computers, (b)
Denial of service, (c) Virus attack, (d) Email bombing, (e) Salami attack, (f)
Logic bomb, (g) Trojan horse, (h) Data didling
● 4. Crimes against Society/ Nation/ Government : (a) Forgery, (b) Cyber
Terrorism, (c) Web jacking, (d) Cyber Warfare, (e) Distribution of pirated
software, (f) Possession of Unauthorized Information
Combating Cyber Crimes
● A. Preventive Measures for Cyber Crimes
● B. Legal framework-laws & enforcement
● C. Forensic cyber crime detection techniques
Meaning of Cyber Forensics
Users of Cyber Forensics
Procedure used by cyber forensic experts
Good locations for cyber forensic evidence
Essentials of cyber forensic cyber evidence
Limitations of cyber forensic techniques
Conclusion
✔ Intro :
Today we live in a world of global connectivity. We can have spontaneous discussion
or conduct multimillion dollar financial dealings with individuals on the other side of
the planet inexpensively and quickly.
As internet usage is growing continuously the world is coming closer.
There is no uncertainty at present that computer-generated environments have
presented new levels of efficacy, connectivity and throughput to businesses of all
types the world over.
However it has also managed to create a major problem for all the people using the
new virtual world- which is Computer crimes.
✔ What is meant by ‘cyber’ and “cyber crime”?
According to Merrium Webster dictionary,
● Term ‘cyber’ means “of, relating to, or involving computers or computer
networks (such as the Internet)”.
“Cyber crime, or computer oriented crime”, is crime that involves a computer and a
network. The computer may have been used in the commission of a crime, or it
may be the target.
Cybercrimes can be defined as : (by Debarati Halder and K. Jaishankar)
● "Offences that are committed against individuals or groups of individuals
with a criminal motive
• to intentionally harm the reputation of the victim
• or cause physical or mental harm, or loss, to the victim directly or indirectly,
using modern telecommunication networks such as Internet and mobile
phones".
2 Cyber criminals can freely change their It is difficult for conventional criminals
identities. The Internet also allows the to fake them gender, race, or age.
anonymity of its users, and this implies
that cybercriminals can use any
pseudonyms for their identification.
4 Cybercrimes do not require the use of Most of the Conventional crimes (such
any physical force, since the criminals as rape, murder, arson, and burglary
merely use the identities of their victims among others) involve the use of
to steal from them. For ex, cyber excessive physical force that results in
criminals use spoofing and phishing to physical injury and trauma on the
obtain personal information such as victims.
credit card numbers from their victims,
or use encrypted emails to coordinate
violence remotely.
Ego
Mischief/ Hacking for fun - to prove their technical skills in breaching digital
security systems.
● Such hackers are not interested in the information they access from hacking
other computers.
Criminal gain - Money (fraud, extortion, theft) - to defraud their victims by
accessing and manipulating their personal data.
● Such hackers use financial information and passwords of the victims to transfer
their funds into private accounts, and this may result in massive financial losses
to the victims.
Espionage
Revenge
Ideology/ Making statements (hacktivists) - to make ideological or political
points by stealing classified information from business/ organization/ government
databases.
● In most cases, the hackers attack these organizations to protest against
inactivity by the company/ organization/ government in addressing various
issues or perceived injustices perpetrated by them.
Improving security (blue hat hackers) - Such individuals are usually employed
to identify any vulnerabilities and bugs in the digital security systems of companies.
● This helps the companies in improving the safety of their systems and prevent
attacks by malicious hackers. This is done to find weaknesses, vulnerabilities,
and bugs in computer systems.
Personal Profit - High Skilled IT professional are attracted by this dark side.
Curiosity - They start to search for information and end up stealing and selling
Disgruntled employees - with the increase independence on computers and the
automation of processes, it is easier for disgruntled employees to do more harm to
their employers by committing computer related crimes, which can bring entire
systems down.
✔ 2010 Cost of Cyber Crimes in India : Source : Nortan Cyber Crime Report 2011
29.9 million people fell victim to cyber crime
US$ 4 billion in direct losses
US$ 3.6 billion in time spent to resolve crimes
80% of cyber users have been a victim of cyber crime
17% of adults online have experienced cybercrime on their mobile phone
✔ Classification of Cyber Crimes : Major Cyber Crimes :
Cyber-crime includes a wide range of activities. Generally, however, it may be
✔ 1. Crimes against Individual : There are certain offences which affects the
personality of individuals can be defined as :
A. E-mail Spoofing :
● A spoofing mail is the formation of email messages by impersonating
correspondent identity.
● It shows its origin to be different from which actually it originates.
● eg Rajesh Maniyar, a Bachelor learner at Purdue University in Indiana, was under
arrest for threatening to explode a nuclear device in the university campus. The
suspected e- mail was sent from the account of another student to the vice
president for student services.
Eventually, the e-mail was tracked to be sent from the account of Rajesh
Maniyar.
B. E-mail Spamming :
● Spam is a message also called as junk mail; send with a web link or business
proposal. Clicking on such a link or replying to commercial offer send to a
phishing website or set up a malware in your workstation.
● The senders of this electronic mail are always unidentified.
● One needs to be conscious to answering these kinds of spam mails because it
may cause some financial and data loss.
C. Cyber Defamation :
● It is an act of imputing any individual with intention to lower the person in the
estimation of the right-thinking members of society generally or to cause him to
be ignored or side-stepped or to rendering him to hate, disrespect or ridicule.
● Cyber defamation is not different from conventional defamation except the
involvement of a virtual medium.
● E.g. the e-mail account of Rohit was hacked and several-mails were sent from
his account to some of his colleague on the subject of his matter with a girl with
intending to defame him.
D. Cyber Stalking :
● The Oxford dictionary defines stalking as "pursuing stealthily".
● Cyber stalking involves following a person's movements across the Internet by
posting messages (sometimes threatening) on the bulletin boards frequented by
the victim, entering the chat-rooms visited by the victim, continually attacking
the victim with emails, etc.
E. Carding :
● It means false ATM cards i.e. Debit and Credit cards used by criminals for their
monetary benefits through withdrawing money from the victim’s bank account
mala-fidely.
● There is always unauthorized use of ATM cards in this type of cybercrimes.
● Any illegal act due to which, the owner is deprived entirely or partly of his IPR is
a crime.
● The very common form of IPR abuse may be known to be software piracy,
copyright infringement, trademark and service mark violation, theft of computer
source code, etc.
● The Hyderabad Court in a land mark judgement has convicted 3 persons and
sentenced them to 6 months custody and fine of 50,000 each for unauthorized
copying and sell of pirated software.
C. Internet Time Theft :
● Basically, Internet time theft comes under hacking.
● It is the use by an unofficial individual, of the Internet hours paid for by another
individual.
● The individual who gets access to someone else’s ISP user ID and password,
either by hacking or by gaining access to it by unlawful means, uses it to access
the Internet without of the victim person’s knowledge.
(D) Cyber vandalism :
● Vandalism is "action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or
private property".
● A vandal is an executable file, usually an applet or an ActiveX control ,
associated with a Web page that is designed to be harmful, malicious, or at the
very least inconvenient to the user.
● Since such applets or little application programs can be embedded in any HTML
file, they can also arrive as an e-mail attachment or automatically as the result
of being pushed to the user.
● Vandals can be viewed as viruses that can arrive over the Internet stuck to a
Web page.
● Vandals are sometimes referred to as "hostile applets."
● Motive :
Cyber vandals are individuals who damage information infrastructures purely
for their own enjoyment and pleasure.
Their primary motivation is not financial; it is the desire to prove that the feat
could be accomplished.
● Once inside they leave their mark so there is no denying their presence.
● Computer vandalism is a type of malicious behaviour that involves damages
computers and data in various ways and potentially disrupting businesses.
● Typical computer vandalism involves the creation of malicious programs
designed to perform harmful tasks such as
"hacking" to prevent mis-perception as the term used in the IT Act 2000 of India
is much wider than hacking.
B. Denial of Service Attack :
● In simple words, Denial-of-Service refers to an act by which a user of any
website or service is denied to use the service or website.
● In this category of cyber-crime, offenders aim the web server of the websites
and flow a large number of requests to that server.
● This causes the use of maximum bandwidth of the website, and it goes slow
down or not available for some times.
● Distributed DoS :
A distributed denial of service (DoS) attack is accomplished by using the
Internet to break into computers and using them to attack a network.
Hundreds or thousands of computer systems across the Internet can be turned
into “zombies” and used to attack another system or website.
Types of DOS : There are three basic types of attack :
• a. Consumption of scarce, limited, or non-renewable resources like NW
bandwidth, RAM, CPU time. Even power, cool air, or water can affect.
• b. Destruction or Alteration of Configuration Information
• c. Physical Destruction or Alteration of Network Components
C. Virus Attack :
● A computer virus is a type of malware that, when executed, replicates by
implanting the replicas of itself (probably altered) into other computer programs,
data files or the boot sector of the hard drive; when this reproduction proceeds,
the affected zones are then said to be "infected".
● Viruses frequently do certain type of dangerous activity on infected hosts, such
as stealing hard disk space or CPU time, retrieving private information,
corrupting data, displaying radical or funny mails on the user's display,
spamming their links or logging their keystrokes.
D. Email Bombing :
● In email bombing, a user sending vast numbers of email to target address and
due to this that email address or mail server crashed.
● It feels like Denial-of-service impression.
● It says that spamming is a variant of Email bombing.
E. Salami Attack :
● A salami attack is when minor attacks make up a major attack which becomes
untraceable because of its nature.
● It is also called as Salami Slicing.
● It is very easy to access any information by the terrorists with the aid of internet
and to possess that information for political, religious, social, ideological
objectives.
✔ Combating Cyber Crimes :
● A. Preventive Measures for Cyber Crimes :
● B. Legal framework-laws & enforcement :
● C. Forensic cyber crime detection techniques :
A. Preventive Measures for Cyber Crimes : Prevention is always better than cure. A
netizen should take certain precautions while operating the internet and should
follow certain preventive measures for cyber-crimes which can be defined as :
● Identification of exposures through education about cyber crimes will assist
responsible companies and firms to meet these challenges.
● One should avoid disclosing any personal information to strangers via e-mail or
while chatting.
● One must avoid sending any photograph to strangers by online as misusing of
photograph incidents increasing day by day.
● An update Anti-virus software to guard against virus attacks should be used by
all the netizens and should also keep back up volumes so that one may not
suffer data loss in case of virus contamination.
● A person should never send his credit card number to any site that is not
secured, to guard against frauds.
● It is always the parents who have to keep a watch on the sites that your children
are accessing, to prevent any kind of harassment or depravation in children.
● Web site owners should watch traffic and check any irregularity on the site . It is
the responsibility of the web site owners to adopt some policy for preventing
cyber-crimes as number of internet users are growing day by day.
● Web servers running public sites must be physically separately protected from
internal corporate network.
● It is better to use a security programmer by the body corporate to control
information on sites.
● Strict statutory laws need to be passed by the Legislatures keeping in mind the
interest of netizens.
● IT department should pass certain guidelines and notifications for the protection
of computer system and should also bring out with some more strict laws to
breakdown the criminal activities relating to cyberspace.
● As Cyber Crime is the major threat to all the countries worldwide, certain steps
should be taken at the international level for preventing the cybercrime.
● A complete justice must be provided to the victims of cyber-crimes by way of
Once the original media has been copied, it is locked in a safe or other secure
facility to maintain its pristine condition. All investigation is done on the digital
copy.
Investigators use a variety of techniques and proprietary software forensic
applications to examine the copy, searching hidden folders and unallocated
disk space for copies of deleted, encrypted, or damaged files.
Any evidence found on the digital copy is carefully documented in a "finding
report" and verified with the original in preparation for legal proceedings that
involve discovery, depositions, or actual litigation.
Note : Preference is given to perform investigations on static data (i.e.
acquired images) rather than "live" systems. This is a change from early
forensic practices where a lack of specialist tools led to investigators commonly
working on live data.
● Good locations for cyber forensic evidence :
1) Internet History Files
2) Temporary Internet Files
3) Slack/ Unallocated Space
4) Buddy lists, personal chat room records, P2P, others saved areas
5) News groups/club lists/posting
6) Settings, folder structure, file names
7) File Storage Dates
8) Software/ Hardware added
9) File Sharing ability
10) E-mails
● Essentials of cyber forensic evidence :
Admissible :
• Must be able to be used in court or elsewhere.
Authentic
• Evidence relates to incident in relevant way.
Complete
• Exculpatory evidence for alternative suspects.
Reliable
• No question about authenticity & veracity.
Believable
• Clear, easy to understand, and believable by a jury.
➔ Explain in detail the DNA profiling method and its contribution in justice delivery
system in criminal and civil cases with illustration. (Mar-2015)
✔ What is DNA profiling? How it can be done ? Discuss its credential value in civil
The first application of DNA profiles was used by Jefferys in a double murder
mystery in a small England town called Narborough, Leicestershire.
● In 1985, a 15-year-old school girl by the name of Lynda Mann was raped and
murdered in Carlton Hayes psychiatric hospital. The police did not find a suspect
but were able to obtain a semen sample.
● In 1986, Dawn Ashworth, 15 years old, was also raped and strangled in a nearby
village of Enderby.
Forensic evidence showed that both killers had the same blood type.
Richard Buckland became the suspect because he worked at Carlton Hayes
psychiatric hospital, had been spotted near Dawn Ashworth's murder scene and
knew unreleased details about the body. He later confessed to Dawn's murder but
not Lynda's.
Sir Alec Jefferys was brought into the case to analyze the semen samples.
● He concluded that there was no match between the samples and Buckland, who
became the first person to be exonerated using DNA.
Jefferys confirmed that the DNA profiles were identical for the two murder semen
samples.
To find the perpetrator, DNA samples from the entire male population, more than
4,000 aged from 17 to 34, of the town were collected.
They all were compared to semen samples from the crime.
A friend of Colin Pitchfork was heard saying that he had given his sample to the
police claiming to be Colin.
● Colin Pitchfork was arrested in 1987 and it was found that his DNA profile
matched the semen samples from the murder.
Because of this case, DNA databases were developed.
Now, there is the national (FBI) and international databases as well as the
European countries (ENFSI : European Network of Forensic Science Institutes).
● These searchable databases are used to match crime scene DNA profiles to
those already in a database.
✔ What can be used for DNA profiling ? Evidentiary clue materials :
DNA can be obtained from a wide variety of sources like,
● buccal swab (Buccal means cheek or mouth, swab means absorbent pad or
material to take speciman),
● blood,
● semen,
● bone,
● saliva,
● hair,
● vaginal lubrication,
● appropriate fluid or tissue from personal items (e.g. a toothbrush, razor),
● stored samples (e.g. banked sperm or biopsy tissue)
Above listed samples obtained from blood relatives (related by birth, not marriage)
can also provide an indication of an individual's DNA profile, as could human
remains that had been previously profiled.
✔ Method/ procedure of DNA profiling :
https://allaboutdnafingerprinting.weebly.com/steps-of-dna-fingerprinting.html
Developed by Professor of Genetics Sir Alec Jeffreys, the process begins with a
sample of an individual's DNA (typically called a "reference sample").
A common method of collecting a reference sample is the use of a buccal swab
(Buccal means cheek or mouth, Swab means absorbent pad or material to take
speciman), which is easy, non-invasive and cheap.
DNA fingerprinting involves a number of intensive and important steps in order to
fully complete and develop and DNA fingerprint.
There are many techniques for DNA fingerprinting. Typical process for DNA profiling
using RFLP Analysis (Restriction fragment length polymorphism) is as follows :
● The process of DNA fingerprinting starts with isolating DNA from any part of the
body such as blood, semen, vaginal fluids, hair roots, teeth, bones, etc.
● Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the next step : In a test tube, the DNA and
the cells will undergo DNA replication in order to make more DNA to be tested.
● The scientist will treat DNA with restriction enzymes (an enzymes that cuts DNA
near specific recognition nucleotide sequences known as restriction sites).
This will produce different sized fragments which are known as restriction
fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs).
These fragments can then be observed doing an experiment called gel
electrophoresis which separates DNA based on fragment sizes.
● Gel electrophoresis : An electrical current is applied to a gel mixture, which
includes the samples of the DNA. The electric current separates the molecules of
different sizes.
The fragments of separated DNA are sieved out of the gel using a nylon
membrane (treated with chemicals that allow for it to break the hydrogen
➔ Discuss about the challenges to the forensic science experts in countering the global
terrorism and cyber terrorism. (Apr-2017)
ANSWER :
✔ Refer :
ANSWER :
✔ Refer :
https://www.slideshare.net/HarshitaVed/cyber-law-forensics-63182150
✔ Intro :
✔ Meaning of Cyber Terrorism :
Who is a terrorist?
● A terrorist means a person who indulges in wanton killing of persons or in
violence or in disruption of services or means of communications essential to the
community or in damaging property with the view to –
(1) Putting the public or any section of the public in fear; or
(2) Affecting adversely the harmony between different religious, racial,
language or regional groups or castes or communities; or
(3) Coercing or overawing the government established by law; or
(4) Endangering the sovereignty and integrity of the nation,
Who is a cyber terrorist?
● And a cyber-terrorist is the person who uses the computer system as a means or
ends to achieve the above objectives.
Cyber terrorism may be defined as,
● “the planned use of disorderly activities, or the danger thereof,
● in cyber space,
● with the intention to further social, philosophical, religious, political or analogous
objectives, or to threaten any person in persistence of such objectives”
Cyberterrorism can be also defined as,
● the intentional use of computer, networks, and public internet to cause
destruction and harm for personal objectives.
● Objectives may be political or ideological since this can be seen as a form of
terrorism.
✔ Distinction between cyber terrorism and cyber-crime :
Both are criminal acts. Though there is a compelling necessity to differentiate
between both these crimes.
A cyber-crime is usually a domestic subject, which may have worldwide
significances;
● while, cyber terrorism is an international concern, which has domestic as well as
international consequences.
✔ Common forms of cyber terrorist attacks :
Fifth, as the I LOVE YOU virus showed, cyberterrorism has the potential to affect
directly a larger number of people than traditional terrorist methods, thereby
generating greater media coverage, which is ultimately what terrorists want.
Suggested Readings :
➔ Sharma B. R., Forensic Science in Criminal Investigation & Trials, Universal Law
Publishing Co.
➔ Sharma B. R., Law Relating to Handwriting Forensics, Universal Law Publishing
➔ Nanda B.B. & Tewari R. K., Forensic Science in India: A Vision for 21 Century, Select
Publisher, New Delhi
➔ Tewari R. K., Shashtri P. K. & Ravikumar K. V. Computer Crime & Computer Forensics,
Select Publications
➔ Dr. Veerraghavan, Handbook of Forensic Psychology
➔ Dr. Rukmani Krishnamurthy Crime Scene Management with Special Emphasis on
National Level Crime Cases
➔ Parikh, Text Book of Medical Jurisprudence, Forensic Medicine and Toxicology
➔ Abhijeet Sharma, Guide to DNA Test in Paternity Determination and Criminal
Investigation (A Lawyer's Handbook), Butterworths
➔ Modi's Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology, Butterworths Publication