The Rajasthan High Court disposed of a Suo Motu petition registered in 2014 by the Court while dealing with Second Bail Application in a Case during which the High Court came across the enormous delay that is being caused by the State Forensic Science Laboratory in sending the chemical analysis report of Viscera of deceased.

The Court, concerned with the delay in submission of the Forensic Report before the Court and its impact on the fairness of the trial, a detailed order came to be passed on 13.11.2013 requiring Director State Forensic Science Laboratory, Jaipur to file specific affidavit giving details of the manpower infrastructure available. That is how this Suo Motu petition was germinated, which has remained pending before this Court for the last eight years.

During this period, in compliance with the directions issued by the High Court from time to time, the situation has improved. Now Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (RFSL) at Ajmer, Bikaner and Bharatour, in addition to RFSL at Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur have also been established. The efforts to improve infrastructure, manpower and equipment in various Forensic Science Laboratories have been stated in a number of affidavits which have been filed before this Court from time to time.

The High Court has also taken into consideration the comparison of input and output of cases in 2014 with that of 2022. Moreover, procurement of instruments has also been stated in various affidavits. The respondents in their affidavits have also come out with an increase in the number of posts of Senior Scientific Officer, Lab Assistant, Junior Lab Assistant, Senior Lab Assistant. Recruitment process against the post of Senior Scientific Officer has also been continued and a large number of appointments have also been made though at the same place the process of recruitment is continuing.

As far as appointment to the post of Lab Attendant and Junior Lab Attendant is concerned, it has been stated that select list has been received from the Rajasthan Staff Selection Board and process for grant of appointment is going on. In so far as 24 posts of Senior Scientific Officer under recruitment of the year 2019 are concerned, it is stated that the selections are being held by Rajasthan Public Service Commission.

It is also stated that as far as building of RFSL at Bharatpur is concerned, tender has been floated and the project is underway. Further, it is stated that the process for appointment to the post of Senior Scientific Officer, Lab Assistant, Junior Lab Assistant under recruitment of year 2019 and 2022 respectively is pending. As far as Lab Assistant and Junior Lab Assistant is concerned, what has been stated is that the process of appointment is at an advanced stage as the merit list has been received from the Rajasthan Staff Selection Board.

Therefore it is directed by the High Court that in those cases where the merit list has been received, without further loss of time, the appointments should be made at the earliest. In so far as pending recruitment of the year 2019 for filling up 24 posts of Senior Scientific Officer is concerned, Rajasthan Public Service Commission shall ensure that the process of selection is completed within the time schedule framed by it. The construction of the RFSL building at Bharatpur shall also be completed as early as possible.

Taking into consideration the state of affairs which were in existence in so far as functioning of State Forensic Labs in 2014 in comparison to the improvement which have so far been made in these eight years, the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice Anil Kumar Upman consider that, at this stage, this suo motu petition can be disposed off.

With the aforesaid observations and directions, the suo motu petition is disposed of by the High Court with liberty to revive in case it is found that various projects and process of appointment despite lapse of reasonable period has not been completed.

New Delhi (ILNS): A letter has been sent to the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by Varun Singh, representing the family of the Late Sushant Singh Rajput, alleging faulty forensic examination by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) team in Sushant’s death case.

The letter states that though the AIIMS team which conducted the forensic examination, has been coming on TV and making the statements with regard to the report, repeated requests by the family to get a copy of the said report has met with no response from Dr Sudhir Gupta, the forensic head of AIIMS. It further stated that, the leaked report, if correct, amounts to drawing a biased and boastful conclusion from insufficient evidence. The objections raised in the letter are as follows:

·        AIIMS was not supposed to prepare a post-mortem report, instead it was asked to give its opinion with regard to the post-mortem done by the Cooper hospital. Since AIIMS did not have the privilege to examine Sushant’s body, therefore forming the firsthand opinion about the cause of death is uncalled for.

·        From Day one, Dr Sudhir Gupta has been giving TV interviews about the sensitivity of the case, questioning the role of doctors at Cooper hospital and the Maharashtra Police over the manner in which they have dealt with the case so far.

·        There exist several infirmities in the post mortem report done at the Copper hospital. They are:

1.     The post mortem was done at night without taking the permission of the Magistrate.

2.     Several experts from forensic department across the world have also opined that the protocol for post mortem which should be followed in such cases was not followed.

3.     Videography of the post-mortem was not done.

4.     Sufficient viscera was not retained for future examination.

5.     Time of death was not mentioned in the post mortem report.

6.     Injuries on the body were not specified and thus there was no opinion expressed of the cause of such injuries.

7.     The leg which was fractured was nowhere mentioned in the reports. There are several other infirmities which could be pointed out by a genuine forensic examination but somehow the same have been left out by the AIIMS team as expressed by one of the doctors in an interview telecast by a TV channel.

Read Also:

·        Dr Sudhir Gupta has selectively got leaked to a couple of media houses, irresponsibly commenting that the death of Sushant Singh Rajput is “conclusively” a case of suicide and there is no foul play. This is done to create doubts in the minds of people and benefitting the culprits and derailing the ongoing investigation.

The letter calls the conduct of Dr Sudhir Gupta unethical, unprofessional and in contravention of government services. The letter also states that the AIIMS team has not given a categorical opinion on the flaws of the post mortem report done by the Cooper hospital and demanded that the matter to be referred to another forensic team to be constituted by the CBI.