The essential object of criminal law is to protect society against criminals and law-breakers and to protect law abiding citizens. For this purpose the law holds out threats of punishments to prospective lawbreakers as well as attempts to make the actual offenders suffer the prescribed punishments for their crimes. Therefore, criminal law, in its wider sense, consists of both the substantive criminal law and the procedural (or adjective) criminal law. Substantive criminal law defines offenses and prescribes punishments for the same, while the procedural law administers the substantive law. To meet the natural justice, the erring person is subjected to prosecution in the established procedure in the court of law where evidence of guilt to be proved beyond doubt. It is at this juncture Forensic Science play an important role.
Forensic science is application of science in the administration of justice. It plays an important and indispensable part during the investigation of criminal cases and prosecution of offenders through examination of vital clues and physical evidence.
Forensic Science today makes an important contribution to the operation of the Criminal Justice System by providing evidence which could help decide the guilt of a suspect based on scientifically proven facts. The law enforcement agencies are facing an uphill task in securing conviction of suspects, in view of the ever innovative modus operandi being adopted by modern day criminals.
The profile of the criminal has undergone phenomenal change from the earlier stereotypes, requiring a new paradigm to understand and manage the emerging scenario. The criminal mind is no more matching the old definition of an economically deprived background but one that seeks to compete, outsmart and short-change the society that he or she lives in. Emerging trends in cybercrimes like hacking, phishing and cyber stalking etc., with social media as the new playground for the criminal mind to do lot of manipulations. Police force need to adopt, revamp and reform itself to address how crime is reported, investigated and followed on the lines of gathering scientific evidence, which can ensure successful prosecution of the criminal.
Forensic science may prove the commission of a crime, the perpetrator of a crime, or a connection between crime and offender through the:
- Examination of available physical evidence
- Administration of tests
- Analysis and interpretation of test results
- Preparation of evidence report
- Testimony in Courts.
Traditionally forensic science was limited to examination of physical evidences like fingerprints, blood sample analysis or forensic biology, toxicology, examination of questioned documents and ballistics. Today, the scope of forensic examination has been widened to include forensic photography, cyber forensics and norco analysis.
Forensic photographs play very important role in medico-legal practice as they not only act as an evidentiary material but also act as guide to the crime committed or accident occurred. As the saying goes, ‘A photograph speaks thousand words’, examination of photographs give many clues or features, which help forensic expert to identify the condition.
Cyber forensics involves the analysis of evidence found in computer and digital media like pen drives hard disks etc. Its major objective is identifying, preserving, recovering, analyzing and presenting facts and opinions about the digital information. Crimes involving a computer can range across the spectrum of criminal activity, from child pornography to theft of personal data to destruction of intellectual property. Two basic types of data are collected in computer forensics. Persistent data is the data that is stored on a local hard drive (or another medium) and is preserved when the computer is turned off. Volatile data is any data that is stored in memory, or exist in transit, that will be lost when the computer loses power or is turned off.
One of the important limitations in forensic examination is delay in examination of physical evidences and preparation of reports due to huge volume of criminal and other cases referred to Forensic Science Laboratories in India. There is a need to establish forensic science laboratory in every district for speedier examination and reporting. On a positive development, recently both Union Government and State Governments are giving adequate importance to establish more laboratories and also modernizing the existing facilities.
In Karnataka, recent initiatives like establishment of Forensic Science and Technological Center, acquisition of modern equipment and creation of additional posts of experts will help in enhancing the capability of the Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratories in the State. This will go a long way in bringing the criminals to justice expeditiously and enhancing the safety of law abiding citizens.