“As far as photographing of the spot of assault is concerned, I see that Delhi Police photographers are so poorly trained that they absolutely do not know as to what to click and from which angle,” a Delhi court has said after acquitting six West Delhi residents, including a 70-year-old woman, charged with the murder of their neighbour for allegedly having an affair with a female relative.
After recording the acquittal of the accused, Additional Sessions Judge S. S. Rathi in a paragraph titled “Highly Unprofessional Work of Crime Team Photographer” wrote in the order that “out of the five photographs available on record” none of them was of any aid to his court during the trial.
“Not a single photograph of the deceased containing injuries suffered by him was taken by the crime team. I see no reason as to why the crime team or at least the photographer among them cannot visit the hospital or the mortuary to take the photographs of the deceased so that court can have a clear view of the nature of the injuries. Such photographs come handy in understanding the gravity of the offence vis-à-vis the manner of execution,” rued the judge.
“Like in the instant case, site plan shows the place of assault as inside of a vacant plot containing a peripheral wall. There is no photograph which could show the actual site. Until and unless all these details are covered by the photographer it would not be feasible for the court to have the realistic view of the place simply by gauging it from the non-descriptive site plans and poorly clicked photos. Even though the crime team in this case arrived at night, the photographer should have carried with him suitably powerful flashes.”
Directing that a copy of the judgment be sent to the Police Commissioner to formulate a specific training course for photographers and other crime team members in line with best practices adopted by premier investigating agencies the world over, the court warned that such “poor, unprofessional quality work could lead to serious miscarriage of justice in very many heinous cases.”
Recommending that digital cameras be an integral pat of the crime-team's investigation kit, the court said that though officer prepare site plans and note down recoveries effected, “the actual manner in which the recovered articles were lying just before the recovery, is not described.”
“In case digital cameras are issued to IOs [Investigating Officers] of each police station and the same are used to photograph the recoveries as well as spot of recovery, it will go a long way in making the investigation more transparent and creditworthy. By issuance of a standing order, the Police Commissioner can make the photographing of recovered articles at the spot and the spot of recovery during the investigation mandatory. This will help trial courts in identifying the victims of crime during trial while ruling out possibility of impersonation. Progress report in this regard may be sent to this court.”
The court also made important recommendations on speeding up the trial and proper recording of doctor's statements. In the present case, despite having just 38 witnesses the trial dragged on for over four years, during which the accused languished in prison.
“Practice of recording of cryptic four lines statements by doctors who conducted post mortem is quite prevalent in Delhi and this can lead to serious miscarriage of justice… Upon being asked, this court was informed that there is no system in place where doctors can get their affidavits prepared before arriving to the court for deposing as a witness.”
