Forensic Science Labs Need Resuscitation: Kerala High Court Asks State To Upgrade System, FSL Reports To Be Submitted Within 3 Weeks

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday while releasing a man on bail observed that the forensic science laboratories (FSL) in the State were collapsing and required an upgrade upon noticing that the FSL report in the case was not submitted to the Sessions Court despite the passage of two years. 

Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V, therefore, suggested that the State government take immediate note of the same and make sure that the system is equipped to submit FSL reports within three weeks of the samples being furnished. 

"If reports are delayed as has happened in this case, the only conclusion that can be arrived at is that the system has collapsed and needs resuscitation. It is high time that the State woke up and set up enough Forensic Science/ Chemical Laboratories in the State and spruced up the infrastructure and employed technical personnel to ensure that reports are provided to the Court within three weeks from the date of furnishing of the sampling." 

The Court opined that forensic science is an indispensable branch of jurisprudence and considered one of the most deadly weapons in the armoury of the investigator, thereby an area that requires prompt revival. We cannot shut our eyes to the ways in which Forensic science is used for the detection of crime in other developed countries, it said. 

It was also recorded that a lack of investment in establishing such cutting edge labs and in employing skilled scientific officers to aid in all phases of the criminal investigation process was leading to an alarmingly high acquittal rate.  

The Judge further noted that it frequently received complaints that the labs were working far beyond their capacity and thousands of samples forwarded much earlier were yet to be tested.

"It is common knowledge that thousands of samples are lying in labs and it would take years to analyse the same. The pendency in the labs is mind-boggling. The less said the better. Obviously, a State like Kerala where the crime rate is high requires enough labs with highly skilled Scientific Officers and state-of-the-art equipment."

The report from the FSL and the Chemical Examiners Lab form the backbone of the prosecution case. Testing of samples must be swift, efficient and accurate and the report has to reach the Courts as expeditiously as possible. It has to be ensured that a sample forwarded to the Lab is analysed and a report forwarded to the Court within an outer limit of three weeks at the most.

The petitioner was accused of murdering a married woman with whom he wanted to have a relationship. He had harassed her on numerous occasions before stabbing her to death, causing more than 40 odd stab wounds on her body. 

The petitioner was in custody since December 2019 and his bail applications were repeatedly dismissed in June and December 2020 respectively. He approached the Sessions Court seeking bail thereafter, but it was to no avail and he has been languishing in custody since then. 

Advocate Deepu R appearing for the petitioner submitted that although the Sessions Court was directed to expedite the trial, it did not even commence as the material objects were yet to be analysed by the Forensic Science Laboratory. The Director of the FSL only reported that the examination can be expedited but did not give a time frame.

He further argued that the petitioner is suffering from several diseases including severe psychiatric issues. The Sessions Judge after an enquiry had found that the medical insanity of the accused was prima facie proved. As the legal insanity of the accused can be considered only at the stage of the trial, it would be a travesty of justice to keep a mentally insane person in prison., the counsel submitted. 

Senior Public Prosecutor C.K. Suresh stoutly opposed the prayer pointing out the barbaric manner in which the victim was murdered. 

While acknowledging that the offences alleged against the petitioner were extremely grave, the Court noted that he has been in custody since 2019 and that the FSL was yet to forward its report to the Sessions Court. 

The Director reported that in view of the urgency, the report can be submitted before April 30 while the Sessions Judge reported that the trial can be completed within a period of six months from the date of receipt of the FSL report.

Meanwhile, the Medical Report of the petitioner produced by the Central Prison and Correctional Home revealed that he had been diagnosed with Bipolar Affective Disorder (BPAD) and that he is under treatment. 

Significantly, the Court observed that an accused who seeks exoneration from liability of an act under Section 84 of IPC is to prove legal insanity and not medical insanity. Every person who is suffering from mental disease is not ipso facto exempted from criminal liability.

"The mere fact that the accused is conceited, odd, irascible and his brain is not quite all right, or that the physical and mental ailments from which he suffered had rendered his intellect weak and affected his emotions or indulges in certain unusual acts, or had fits of insanity at short intervals or that he was subject to epileptic fits and there was abnormal behaviour or the behaviour is queer, are not sufficient to attract the application of Section 84 of the Penal Code."

Therefore, it was concluded that the fact that the petitioner is suffering from legal insanity has to be proven by him at the stage of the trial. At this stage, the only consideration was whether a mentally sick person needs to languish in prison due to the inability of the criminal justice system to expedite the trial.

Therefore, considering the period of incarceration undergone by the petitioner, the physical and mental ailments he is suffering, the reasonable possibility of securing his presence at the stage of trial and the reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being tampered with, the Court took the view that his further detention in custody was not necessary.

He was thereby granted bail with stringent conditions with a clarification that any expression of opinion to decide this bail application shall not be regarded as an expression on the merits of the case.

Case Title: Aneeshkutty v. State of Kerala 

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Ker) 173

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