Role of forensic medicine experts missing in Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita

Forensic experts are incomplete without involvement of medico legal experts. Representation Pic

Though the mandatory involvement of crime scene forensic investigation for offence attracting punishment of seven years and above in the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) is a welcome move, forensic medicine experts are conspicuous by their absence in the provisions. Section 176 (3) of the BNS stipulates the investigating officer to take the help of forensic experts without defining this term. This lacuna may turn out to be crucial at the trial stage in the court if the defence challenges the involvement of a forensic expert in the investigation. Under the erstwhile act, testimony of forensic experts and medico-legal experts was given evidentiary value during trials.

Lack of clarity

"Making legal provisions for the involvement of forensic experts is a good move. However, the law has not clarified the meaning of the term ‘forensic expert'. So, police, in relation to bodily offences like rape, murder, etc., will only call the forensic expert from the forensic science laboratory and not the forensic medicine expert from the medical college, which is unclear in section 176 (3) of BNS, said Dr Indrajit Khandekar professor, forensic medicine and toxicology, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Science (MGIMS), Sewagram.

Dr Khandekar said, "Forensic science experts are mainly related to the analysis of the samples and they are either a BSc or MSc. Whereas, forensic medicine experts are qualified as MBBS and MD in forensic medicine. So, they are well-versed in the importance of the examination of human bodies or biological samples and its interpretation. Once the body is moved, the interpretation of the bodily findings becomes very difficult. Once the biological evidence or evidence from the body is lost, it cannot be recovered by another examination."

Maintain chain of evidence

"In some developed countries, forensic medical examiners have been involved in crime investigations since the beginning. Therefore, they can easily supervise the body examination and evidence collection at the scene of the crime, including the history, interviewing witnesses, physical examination, autopsy examination, laboratory test, toxicology, and their interpretation and collaboration, as well as the deposition in court.

This leads to the maintenance of the chain of all the evidence and interpretation becomes more scientific and fruitful and thereby loopholes are minimised," said Dr Khandekar. "If a forensic medicine expert has not been involved since the beginning, then he or she will not get first-hand information from the crime scene. This will increase the chances of misinterpretation," Dr Khandekar said.

Role of forensic medicine

"Forensic experts are incomplete without involvement of medico-legal experts, as they play a pivotal role in bodily offences including even in criminal identifications, and in certain case reconstruction of the crime scene," said Amol Deshmukh, senior faculty of forensics, Government Institute of Forensic Science, Mumbai, and former technical advisor to state home department.

Way out

Interestingly, there have been numerous instances in the past, where forensic experts have been able to establish the otherwise natural reason for death was actually an act of homicide or unnatural death, during the course of autopsy. Also, they have assisted the police in identification of bodies, through dental and orthopaedic implants in body.

Crucial role of forensics

November 2019 Odontologists at LTMG Hospital found that the deceased had only 25 out of 32 teeth and had undergone dental prosthesis for seven teeth including root canal treatment in five and fixing of ceramic and metal crows in all seven. This along with the odonatological study of the skull helped in identification of the body belonging to Bennett Rebello, 59, from Vakola.

March 2018 Kochi police could identify a body found stuffed in a barrel covered with concrete and dumped along backwaters of Kumbalam, Kerala from the surgical implant used to fix the fractured ankle of the deceased. In the above cases the common aspect was that they were all ‘unidentified dismembered bodies' and they were identified through the surgical implants on their body / skeletal remains, which helped in identification of the deceased.

Autopsy revelations

July 2012: Versova siblings Rehab and Rameez Chougle passed away under mysterious circumstances within 44 hours of each other. The autopsy which came after their burials revealed the deaths to have resulted from pesticide poisoning.

May, 2003: The ravaged corpse of 72-year-old Adi Ardeshir Cursetjee was retrieved from the Tower of Silence three days after his death. The autopsy at JJ hospital confirmed murder and the police arrested his adopted daughter Gita Soni, who later jumped to death after she was convicted by a session court.

March 2000: Noted film actor Priya Rajvansh was murdered on March 27, 2000, at Chetan Anand's bungalow in Ruia Park, Juhu, Mumbai. Chetan Anand's sons Ketan and Vivek Anand, along with Mala Choudhary and Ashok Chinnaswamy, were accused of her murder. The death was initially said due to heart attack, but during autopsy at the Cooper postmortem centre and a second autopsy at JJ hospital confirmed the presence of ligature mark around her neck. This led to the conclusion that the victim was strangled to death using a rope.