Govt. to rope in Truth Labs to clear cases

To clear pending cases at the Forensic Science Laboratory Rohini, the Delhi Government has decided to outsource the work of "document examination" to Hyderabad-based Truth Labs.

To clear pending cases at the Forensic Science Laboratory Rohini, the Delhi Government has decided to outsource the work of “document examination” to Hyderabad-based Truth Labs.

The non-government organisation, which has a branch at Safadarjung Enclave, is providing legally valid services by accredited experts to individuals and institutions. The Home Department will be signing a memorandum of understanding with Truth Labs soon, officials said.

“The reports of Truth Labs are admissible in court of law. The Economic Offence Wing of the Delhi Police has been availing their services on a regular basis. The decision has been vetted by the Law and Finance Department and the MoU will be signed soon. The Lab is likely to start working on our cases by next month,” a senior Delhi Government official said.

While several retired professionals from the State-run FSL are working with the Truth Labs, officials said an expert not lower than the rank of director or deputy director will be involved in document examination related to cases of the Delhi Government. The State Government will have some discretion in choosing the panel of “experts who could not work on cases referred from the Rohini FSL”.

“The empanelment will be subject to the Vigilance examination at the time of retirement of the experts,” an official said.

Around 2,100 cases are pending with the document division at the Rohini FSL.

“With the current workforce, the Truth Labs will be able to clear around 50 cases in a month. In the meanwhile the document division at Rohini will also continue to dispose cases. We expect to clear the backlog over the next 18 months,” an official said.

The contract with the Truth Labs will cease once the pending cases at Rohini FSL are cleared, officials said.