Muhammad Zafar Zaheer
IN today’s legal system, the collaboration between law enforcement and forensic specialists is essential.
According to research, the real criminal frequently commits more crimes after the wrong person is imprisoned. The continued acts of terrorism served as a wake-up call, and tireless efforts were made to build and ensure the appropriate operation of a forensic laboratory to support criminal investigations. Although forensic science is a crucial part of criminal justice systems worldwide, it has long been neglected in Pakistan, especially in Sindh. Despite the Sindh Forensic Science Agency Act of August 2017, aimed at using modern technology to aid police and prosecutors, examiners remain unable to properly assess disputed documents. Instead of supporting investigations, some have allegedly facilitated crimes such as forgery and document tampering. In Pakistan, expert opinions are considered secondary evidence, meaning that without substantial supporting proof like oral testimony, a case cannot rely solely on forensic reports.
A forensic examiner should possess the training, expertise and skills necessary for their job. The examiner ought to have technical education, training, and expertise, particularly in forensic science, chemistry and physics. To determine the kind and origin of the writing or printing, skilled forensic document examiners carefully review the contested papers and compare various elements to established norms. In order to ascertain whether a questioned document is an original or a reproduction, and whether multiple printing/digital techniques were used to create the counterfeit document, forensic document examiners are frequently asked to check whether questioned documents have been augmented or altered for fraudulent purposes. In the field of forensic science known as “questioned document examination,” a qualified examiner assesses documents that have been contested in court. To determine the type and source of a document, skilled forensic document examiners thoroughly review it and compare certain elements to established standards. However, in one particular case at Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC) Karachi, the forensic department official/examiner was instrumental in creating the counterfeit document. After obtaining thumb impressions before the CBC rent court, a new rent agreement was manufactured utilizing the forensic examiner’s expertise.
The purpose of a document examiner is to systematically evaluate a document’s attributes and characteristics in order to reveal how it was prepared. A forensic examiner/FPB namely Qalander Bux of the forensic division Sindh was asked to examine a questioned rent agreement under Article of the QSO 1984 to determine whether the thumb impressions on the agreement are genuine or digitally pasted since there is no tenancy relationship between the parties. However, he shared sample fingerprints with organized criminals to create another fake rent agreement in order to harass and coerce during the case proceedings. The forensic examiner first took thumb impressions before the court (six impressions of the right thumb and nine impressions of the left thumb) to match the counterfeit/digitally generated rent agreement. They took thumb impressions, pictures, and signatures through court affidavits and pasted them digitally to generate a fake rent agreement to cheat and deceive. It is regrettable to observe how ignorant the concerned CBC officials were that criminals were able to so easily manipulate the court file. They were able to remove the forged rent agreement and replace it with another counterfeit document that they had prepared after receiving thumb impressions from the examiner, while the court’s primary responsibility is to find the truth without depriving an affected party, but in this case, it remained a silent spectator.
When the forensic testing was intended to take the expert’s testimony on trust, the concerned forensic examiner veered off course and shared samples with the other party — in-house tampering of records, which is a crime in and of itself — and compromised the department’s integrity. By sharing sensitive samples and officially obtained evidence, the officials of the department violated ethical standards while there was a chance to gather trustworthy and convincing evidence to support the provision of justice. Forensic examiners, instead of accurately discriminating between natural variations and significant differences, such as whether the agreement is original or digitally generated using Adobe Photoshop, facilitated the generation of a new document as crime facilitators and also generated an examination report duly signed by two FPB examiners stating that the specimen matched. Through a reliable source, this scribe also came to know that those specimens were utilized in some other documents in order to intentionally disguise their crime.
The forensic lab/department, which was established to assist the police and prosecution departments during investigations and trials by utilizing modern technology, must be equipped not only with up-to-date equipment but also with highly qualified personnel and quality assurance procedures in accordance with international standards. In criminal cases, lab results are a crucial piece of evidence, and if they are not reliable, they could compromise public safety and justice. The forensic examiner’s inability to gather, store, transfer, analyze, and interpret forensic evidence is demonstrated by that particular case at the CBC rent court. Fixing the forensic department’s system in Sindh will necessitate a total lab makeover and increased transparency.
—The writer is Advocate, Sindh High Court.
