Define

Application of science to those criminal and civil laws that are referred by police agencies in criminal
justice system.

Science in service to the law.

Branches of science
Chemistry Agriculture
Physics Food and nutrition
Biology Medicine
Math Psychology
Stats Cyber
Biochemistry Microbiology
Zoology LLB
Botany Engineering

Branches of forensic science

Fingerprint Lip print
Anthropology Skin mark
Toxicology Narcotics
Serology Digital
Ballistics entomology
Questioned documentation Voice analysis
Foot print

Functions of forensic science

 Analyze physical evidence
 Provide expert testimony
 To train crime scene personal

Principles of forensic science

INTRO:

The laws and principle of all the natural sciences are the basis of forensic science. in addition, it has
development of its own principle.

There are 6 types of principle of forensic science

1) Law of individuality
2) Principle of exchange
3) Law of progressive change
4) Principle of comparison
5) Principle of analysis
6) Law of probability

1) Law of individuality
- The laws and the principles of all the natural sciences are the basis of forensic science. in
addition, it has developed its own principle.
- Law of individuality (every object natural, manmade, has an individuality which cannot be
duplicated by any other object) OR
- Nothing created by God or man are exactly identical.
- ex- the drains of sands or common salts, buds of plants, coins of same denomination made
in a same minute, currency notes printed with the same printing blocks, one after others
(excluding the serial no.). Type writers of same mode, imperfect Stamps, etc.
- the individuality is always there due to small flaws in the material, in the arrangement, due
to inclusions are some extraneous matters.
- No two fingerprints even from Identical twins have ever been found a same. In the series. of
experiment carried out during study of supreme imposition technique for fingerprints,
footprints, toothmarks, die marks, marks obtain from the fire arms.

2) Principle of exchange
- edmard leoard
- it’s called locard principle.
- Contact exchanges trace of when 2 things came wit into contacted there is always on
exchange of materials.
- e.g.: - Toolmarks, Blood, fibers, Hair, fingerprint, shoe print, dust particle.
- According to the principle, when a criminal. or his Instrument or weapon of crime come in
contact with the victim or the Object surrounding him they leave traces
- Ex: - If a criminal enters the premises a window, ventilator or door- he leaves his footprint
on shoeprint or dust particles.
- Ex: A Burglar opens a safe or locker with an explosive he leaves the area, his shoes, his
clothes, or body parts with Some explosive material.
- Ex: In case of drug dealers or Pedalers his hands shoes or the chemicals: clothes leaves
traces of the chemicals.

3) Law of progressive change

- Everything changes with the passage of time. The rate of exchange varies. tremendously
with different objects and this impact on forensic science immensely.
 - Ex- criminals undergo progressive change if he is not apprehended on time. He except might
undergo, unrecognized except his fingerprint, voice and any search marks.
- science of occurrence undergoes rapidly change. The weather or atmosphere, vegetative
growth or any extensive changes by delaying the examining of crime scene. The scenes of
crime may become unrecognizable.
- the objects involved or the evidence involved. in the crime changes gradually (rapidly) like
fire arm barrel, any metal object rust, shoe print where and there etc.
- The degree of change depends upon the time, the upkeep and use or misused of object.
- Therefore, the principle demands prompt action in all aspect of criminal investigation.

4) Principle of comparison
- Only likes to be compared in the principle of comparison. it emphasizes the necessity of
providing like samples and specimens for comparison with the question item.
- Ex- in the murder case a bullet is discovered from the deceased. The expert opines that the
bullet has been fixed from firearm of high velocity like service. rifle. It is thellite to send
shotguns, pistols are revolvers.
- A bunch of hair is recovered from the hands of deceased.
- The expert opines the hair belongs to negroid person.
- Hair from person of white rays for comparison will not be able of any use.
- A questioned document with ballpen cannot compared with ink pen or fountain pen.

5) Principle of analysis
- The analysis can be known better than the sample analyzed. improper sampling &
contamination renders the best analysis useless. The principle of analysis emphasis the
necessity of correct sampling and packing for effective use of experts.
- Ex- A small amount of dust is recovered. from a shoe of a culprit the investigative Officer
collects 2 kgs of soil from the scene packed in a polythene bag and send it as a control
sample. The result will be inconclusive.
- Ex: A criminal running from the scene of occurrence brushes against of a painted. surface
some powder particles of paint gets deposited on his clothes. The investigating officer scrabs
few grams of paint from the pen and send it to the lab as controlled sample. The analysis
will not match.
- Ex: In case of rape the investigative officer collects clothes of victim, clothes carrying blood
& Semen stains. He sundry the clothes & send it to the lab without proper packaging in a
railway parcel. The analysis will be not match.

6) Law of probability
- All identifications, definite or indefinite are made continuously or uncontinuously on the
basis of probability which is a mathematical concept.
- It determines the chances of occurrence of a particular event in a particular way out of a
number can take place or fail to take place.
 - Facts do no lie, man can. hence, the importance of circumstance evidence or oral evidence
come into being.

History of forensic science

Name of scientist Work
Mathieu orfila “Father of toxicology”. Studied side effects of
poison in animal in 1813.
Alphonse Bertillon “Father of anthropology”. First system of person
identification based physical measurements in
1879.
Sir Francis Galton “Father of fingerprint”. He saw statistical proof
on their unique.
Leone lattes He devised procedure for typing blood group
from dried stains.
Calvin hooker Goddard “Father of modern ballistics”. He used
comparison microscope to study bullet.
Albert S. Osborn He developed fundamental principle of question
document which is used as primary reference
evidence.
Hans Gross Prosecutor & judge in Austria, wrote a book on
treatise, describing the application of scientific
principle in the field of criminal investigation
specially crime scene photography.
Walter McCrone He utilized microscope and other analytical
methodology to examine evidence.
Sir Alec Jeffreys He developed first DNA profile test

Forensic laboratory category

Central Forensic Science Lab (CFSL) runs under control of Director of Forensic
Science Service (DFSS).

State Forensic Science Lab (SFSL)- run at the state level under the control of CFSL.

Regional Forensic Science Lab (RFSL) – run at the regional or district level under
SFSL.

Mobile Forensic Science Lab (MFSL) – mobile vans are used for rapid analysis of
crime scene under the control of SFSL and RFSL.

- government examiner for question document (GEQD)- This run under the control
of CFSL & SFSL.
Central forensic science lab in India
year state CFSI
1957 West Bengal Calcutta (Kolkata)
1968 Delhi CBI New Delhi
1966 Hyderabad Telangana
1978 Chandigarh S-36 A
2011 Maharashtra Pune
2011 Madhya Pradesh Bhopal
2011 Assam Guwahati

Criminal investigation agency

Sr.no Year Development of Forensic Science
1 2019 CFSL, Guwahati
2 2016 CDTS – Central Detective Training School, Ghaziabad
3 2012 CDTS, Jaipur
4 2010 DFS renamed as DFSS (Director of Forensic Science Service)
5 2002 DFSS, New Delhi
6 1994 AFIS - Automate Fingerprint Integrated System
7 1983 Recommendation of scientific advisory committee (SAC) to the cabinet
8 1978 CFSL, Chandigarh
9 1972 CDTS, Hyderabad
10 1972 Indian Academy AIFS
11 1959 Sagar University Forensic Science, Madhya Pradesh
12 1956 Constitution of Central Advisory Committee
13 1930 Ballistic lab, Kolkata
14 1892 Anthropometric Bureau, Kolkata
15 1897 Fingerprint Bureau

Current state of Forensic Science Lab in India

Sr.no Organizations Old data Current data
1 SFSL 28 67
2 CFSL --- 7
3 RFSL 32 79
4 MFSL 144 145

Branches of Forensic Science

1. Forensic pathology: this branch of forensic involves the investigation of sudden, unnatural,
unexplained or violent death. Forensic pathologist plays the role of medical examiner who are
 charged with the responsibility of answering – who is the victim? What are the injuries on the
victim? When it occurred? Why and how it occurred? The primary role of medical examiner is to
determine cause of death and time of death. The manner in which death occurred is classified
into five categories:
1] Natural
2] Homicide
3]Suicide
4]Accidental
5]Undetermined

Human body goes through several stages of decomposition. A medical examiner investigates to
estimate the time of death by evaluating the stages of decomposition.

Stage 1 - primary relaxation stage; where muscles get relaxed and become rigid without
shortening of muscles.

Stage 2 – decomposition

Stage 3 – RIGOR MORTIS (24-36 hrs. of death)

Stage 4 – LIVER MORTIS; when the human heart stops pumping, the blood begins to settle in the
parts of the body close to the ground.

The onset starts from the death toll rigor mortis. This is useful to determine victims’ position
after death.
ALGOR MORTIS: A condition referred to when the process in which the body temperature cools
after death until it reaches room temperature.

2. Forensic Anthropologist: is a branch that is concerned with identification & examination of

human skeleton remains. Because bones resist decomposition and hence it provides individual
characteristics. An examination of bone reveals their origin, sex, age, race, or any skeletal injury
present.
Ex- A female bone structure will differ from male especially skull and pelvic. A forensic
anthropologist may also assist in facial reconstruction or super imposition technique. Forensic
Anthropologist one helpful in identification of victims during mass disaster like national calamity
or plane crash or explosion etc.

3. Forensic Entomology: The study of insects and their relation to criminal investigation is known
as Forensic Entomology. This is practiced to estimate the time of death. After decomposition
insects such as carrion flies are the first to infe impost the body. These eggs are laid within the
human remains and ultimately hatch into maggots or larvae. However, the stage of
 development is always affected by climate or weather condition, the knowledge of effect, their
life cycle and habits make entomological evidence a tool for investigation.

4. Forensic Psychiatry (FP): this is a specialized area in which the relationship between human
behavior and legal proceedings is examined. F.P is retained to both civil and criminal litigation ·
F.P examine behavioral pattern of criminals which help in developing a suspect’s behavioral
profiles. various Psychiatry techniques are available like Lie detector, Brain fingerprint, Hypnosis,
Narco analysis, Que/Ans, therapy, consultation, etc.

5. Forensic odontology: This provides information for identification of victim’s teeth are composed
of enamel, which is the hardest substance in the body. The teeth will resist decomposition just
like bone. The characteristics of teeth, their alignment, overall structure or inter tooth distance
provides individual evidence for identifying a person. The use of dental records such as X-rays,
dental caste, photograph of a person’s smile etc. is made to compare between dental remains
and a suspected victim. At can also applied in bite work analysis or lip mark analysis.

6. Forensic engineering: it is concerned with the failure analysis, accidental reconstruction, origin
of fire or explosion or reconstruction fire arm involved.

“Crime scene”
A scene of occurrences a meeting place of the person involved.

This scene of occurrences important in knowing information of corpus delicti , information on modus
operandi, linkage of person that is suspect or victim, scene of crime and objects.

Evaluation
Evaluation of crime scene is done in the following manner

 Securing an isolation of crime scene

 Recording
 Sketching
 Documentation
 Photography
 Videography
 Searching
 Collection in packaging
 Forwarding
 Chain of custody
 Reconstruction of crime scene
Securing in isolation of crime scene
 Investigating officer reached the crime scene immediately.
 The first police officer should carefully secure and isolate the crime scene.
 If the injured is dead the scene is left undisturbed.
 If the body is injured or any sign of life is seen medical help should be called immediately and
the person should be taken to the nearest hospital.
 Caution should be taken to disturb the scene to the minimum extent.
 Unauthorized man that is relatives, friends, onlookers, culprit, media photographers, should be
excluded from the crime scene carefully.
 Suspect and witness should not be allowed to talk.
 If the victim identifies the culprit he should be immediately arrested.
 If they suspect is more suspicious then he or she should be detained.
 Only office in charge of the case should be allowed to enter the crime scene and no other fellow
policeman should be allowed.
 The office are assisting the investigating officer should follow the officer in charge for searches
and enquiries.
 Other assistants like photographers, forensic experts, doctors and officers should be called at
the earliest.
 The police officer in charge should never leave the crime scene unguarded.
 Rope and Barricades should be used to secure the crime scene.
 The officer should not discuss anything with the suspect, witness, onlooker, or any media
person.
 The name of the informant with address, time of information given should be recorded for
further details.
 The scene of occurrence should not be altered.
 The officer should not introduce any material like cigarette ends, ash, footprints, fingerprints or
any other food material to the scene of occurrence.
 The door, windows, staircases, entry or exit points should all be preserved.
 The officer should not use the utilities like bathroom, wash basin, towels, napkin, telephones at
the scene of occurrence.
 If the crime scene is in a mess it should not be cleaned until thorough examination is completed.
 The officer should record his own arrival and record weather conditions or any distinctive odor.

Recording
Photography
 The scene of occurrence should be photographed as a matter of routine.
 The objects should be photographed from all possible angles.
 Judge, jury and lawyers cannot visit the crime scene hence proper photographs of crime scene is
to be presented in the court.
 proper photographs of the crime scene makes minute details visible at the time of investigation.
 Photographs are used to verify the facts.
  Photograph help 2 keep a permanent record of crime scene which can later be verifiable at the
stage of investigation.
 Evidence that cannot be picked up easily example : skid mark, tire mark, footprints, etc. found
on highways or busy roads are best recorded by photography.
 Photographs are useful in case of damages during hit and run cases as they are taken to
establish the extend of guilt of the parties.

Camera

 Initially studio camera was recommended but it was inconvenient to handle hence now light and
handy 35 mm camera are used.
 A good 35 mm camera with reflex arrangement and accessories like wide angle lens, close up
attachment, flashgun, telephoto lamps, photo flood lamps, exposure meter and collapsible
stand can handle all types of scene.
 The photography is possible in adequate light.
 High quality film of black and white color are used with varying speed or contrast.

Principles of photography

 At least 4 photographs should be taken.

 4 of corpus delicti and 2 of each item of evidence.
 Close up photograph should be taken with scale to indicate dimensions of evidence.
 Record of exposures, evidence covered, position of the camera and type of illumination used
should be kept.
 The photographs should be free from distortion, glare or shadow.
 Photographs should be as large as 10 * 15 centimeters to 20 * 30 centimeters.

Photos must be taken off a crime scene

 Photo of main site of crime scene.

 Photo of route of approach to the crime scene.
 Photo of entry point.
 Photo of location of corpus delicti.
 Photo of evidence on deceased photo of fibers, injuries, struggling marks.
 Photo of blood stains, disturbed furniture, broken objects ETC. should be taken.
 Photographs of the evidences left by criminal like cigarettes or any fingerprint, footprint, bullet
cartridge, tool mark etc.
 Photograph of exit point or route of departure.

Sketching
 Sketches are handy in Depicting a scene of occurrence.
 Combination of photographs and sketches provide an ideal representation of crime scene.
 A trained person with experience in preparing plans and drawing is appointed for the same.
 A general outline of sketches made using black ink and the details are filled with red ink.

Importance of sketching
  They indicate distances of relevant objects.
 they indicate relevant evidences only.

principles that should be observed while sketching the scene of crime

 The distance should be measured with tape and not by paces.

 The sketch of the crime scene should be prepared at the site.
 A suitable ratio should be used to indicate measurements and distances on the sketch.
o For indoor [1:5 to 100]
o For building [1:50 to 500]
o For outdoor [1:1000 to 10000]
 The direction should be indicated using compass.
 Symbols, letters or digits and legends should be used to avoid crowding.

Various methods of sketching

 Coordinate method
o This technique is most frequently used.
o A focal point is chosen and 2 lines crossing each other at right angle are drawn
perpendicular line represent X and the other line represented by y.
o The location of a object is filled by determining the position of the object with reference to
the coordinates.
 Polar technique
o It is used for larger and outdoor crime scene.
o Here instead of drawing coordinates the distance and direction of the evidential objects are
noted with reference to a central focal point.
o the position are recorded on the sketch accordingly.

Searching of physical evidence

 The search for physical evidence at a crime scene must be thorough & systematic. It is an
attempt to note obvious items of evidence & it is done for orientation purposes before the
documentation begins.
 The intensive search is done before the evidence is collected and packed.
 Crime scene search pattern may vary but the common goal is a systematic structure to ensure
no physical evidences are missed.
 It is important to use an established method.

Methods of searching
 Zonal method
o The crime scene is divided into small zones and eat zone is examined in turns.

o This method is generally used for indoor crime scenes.

o In this search pattern officers are divided to search in allotted zones.
 Spiral method
o The search is started from the focal point of the crime scene and carried out in spiral
formulation.
o This method is employed in large area crime scene or outdoor crime scene like field, ground
or garden.
o The evidence Collector start from the focal point and gradually move in spiral formulation
for the search of evidence.
 Strip method
o In this method the crime scene is divided into convenience trips and each convenience trip
is examined carefully.
o Intensive crime scene search care must be given and instructed to the officers to ensure
proper touch and handling, moving of any physical evidence during the investigation and
searching.
o The crime scene is subdivided into segments and searching of each segment individually is
performed by officers.
o The search may start from some outer point and gradually moves towards the crime scene
in strip method.
o Which type of merger is performed in indoor crime scene that is terrace, rooftop, gallery,
corridors etc.
 Grid / crosshatch method
o In this method the search of clue and evidence is carried out in 2 dimensions.
o First the crime scene is searched length wise in strip method and then in width wise in strip
method.

 The practical application of search methods of the crime scene me sometime be combined for a
better use.
 Torch, magnifying glass, campus, measuring tape, steel scale, notebook, pencil, any lifting
material, casting items etc. are required while performing searching.
 In case of vehicles search must be carefully planned and systematically carried out who stop
 search method always depends upon the nature of the crime.
 in hit and run cases the car, the body of the car, outdoor area, garage must be examined with
care.
 In case of cross transfer of evidence between One object and victim can include blood, tissues,
hair, fibers, tool marks etc.
Collection of physical evidence
 Physical evidence can be anything from massive objects to microscopic traces.
 Collection should be organized with care, nothing should get lost or misplaced or get
contaminated.
 Many evidences are present but only be detected through thorough examination with different
effects of light.
 traces of blood, seminal or vaginal fluid, sweat, right saliva, or any anal swabs should be
detected, collected and preserved.
 Hair, fibers, pubic hair, bogy hair etc. should be collected and sent to laboratory.
 Bullet, cartridges, tools, weapon or any sharp material should be collected, packed and sealed.
 Liquid, chemicals, food materials, water or drink or any wet material should be collected and
sent with proper precaution.
 Any glass material should be collected with fragile mark on it.
 any cigarettes ash, dirt, disposable material, food packing, plastic bottles, etc. should be
handled carefully and sent.
 Vacuum cleaners and sweeping should be employed for collection of trace evidence.
 Valuable evidence which can get contaminated or corrode should be collected and immediately
sent.
 Exhibits like footprints, paw prints, tool marks, should be collected by casting and send to the
laboratory.
 The exhibit collected should always be sealed and packed with proper labelling and send to
forensic laboratory for examination.

Blood and other biological fluids

 All suspected blood, semen, vagina, Saliva, sweat, mucus, urine, fecal,
Breast milk.
 All suspected fluid should be collected and sent to the lab for analysis .
 The category may include fluids in the form of wet and dry sample.
 They may be found on objects like fabrics, furniture, floor, weapon, wall, seat covers,
car, glass, documents, cigarette buds, handkerchief and the internal clothes are packed
separately and sent to the lab.

Dried sample
 If the stained object can be transported to the lab than it is packed or sealed with the
paper bags or envelope and send to the lab.
 If the object cannot be transported it is collected by fingerprint taping method.
 The stains are scrapped in a paper packets and packed in the envelope.
 Half inch long thread moisture in distilled water is placed on the dry sample for
collection of dry sample.
 The thread is dried under room temperature and packed in a paper envelope.
 Photographs from all possible angle and light must be captured to secure the evidential
value of evidence.

Wet sample
 All the items should be packed separately to prevent cross contamination while
transporting to the lab.
 The items transported to the lab must be collected and packed in the paper bags and
vacutainer.
 Items can not be transported to the lab must be collected by 1×1 square cotton sheet is
placed on a wet sample to absorb the stain.
 It is for the Packed into paper after thoroughly air drying. Under no circumstances
should a wet or moist item sent to the lab.
 If so the sample should remain in the containers for not more than 2 hours.
 Victim and suspects whole blood samples should be collected in yellow, red Or purple
top vacutainer.
 The above mentioned sample will be submitted to the lab with a specific information.

Questioned documents
 Documents like suicide notes, burned/ charred, cheque, disputed
documents, signature and handwriting documents should be collected and
handle properly to maintain to integraty of evidence.
 The evidence should be collected with the gloves to keep it safe from
contamination. It should be hadled by expert.
 The document found folded should never be unfolded, unfolded document
should never be folded or never put an extra fold while collecting the
document.
 The document should be stored in staticfree bag or cellophane bag or
envelope.
 The document should never be handled unnecessary or should be
protected from strong lights, chemicals, moisture and roadends.
 The document should never be examined from the pen and pencil or any
other sharp material to avoid the damage of documents.
 The document should never be treated with any other chemicals or scrape
before it’s photography.
 The document should be picked with tongs and great care should be taken
with charred document. A stiff sheet of paper is placed undereath the
 charred document and burdened it with hard board sheet and send it to
the lab.
 A corrugated box with a layer of cotton and tissue paper is generally used
to send charred documents.
 The charred document are placed in a moisture chambers for several hours
and than placed with plasticiders and stabilizer.
 Gum acacia is generally spread over burn documents for the purpose of
stabilization.
 Polyvinyl acetate is also sometime used as a sterilizer for documents.