Blasts prove boon for accused in other cases

The eclipsing of forensic investigation into cases like the J Dey murder and Karjat rave party by that of last week's blasts could help the accused in court, say experts
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Last week's triple blasts and the forensic department's preoccupation with their investigation have proved to be a blessing for accused in cases like the J Dey murder, the rave party controversy and the Vakola rape.


Inefficiency or delay in submission of forensic reports cannot
be a ground to delay trial, say experts. The Zaveri Bazaar
blast site and the accused in Dey's murder



The blasts investigation has assumed top priority and the entire forensic machinery is busy with it, leaving barely any time for them to investigate the other cases. This, say experts, can end up helping the accused during legal proceedings.

"Scientific tests help in establishing the prosecution's case in the court and there have been several instances in which they have proved to be the difference between an accused getting a sentence and going scot-free.
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A delay in submission of reports can hamper court proceedings and benefit the accused," said IPS officer-turned-lawyer Y P Singh.

"Inefficiency or delay in submission of forensic reports cannot be a ground to delay trial, especially when the accused are in police or judicial custody," he added.

M V Garad, director, State Forensics Science Laboratory (FSL), Kalina admitted that the blasts probe is their priority at the moment.

"At present, our entire team is being used for collection and analysis of the samples from the blast sites, which is a time consuming activity.

The scientific report, which needs to be submitted as soon as possible, has been keeping us busy as well."

"Also, some limbs and other body parts which are still in the morgue are likely to be sent to us for DNA sampling. Our Biology Department will be doing the sampling," said Garad.

When a scientist in the FSL was asked about the reason for the delay in the J Dey murder case, wherein the crime branch has claimed to have recovered the .32 imported revolver used in the shooting, he said, "We have taken the weapon for testing today (Thursday) and it will take some time before the report is prepared and submitted to the police."

He added that the weapon had been test fired with one of the live cartridges recovered with it and that they were in the process of matching the bullet with the ones found at the crime scene and recovered from Dey's body.

Drug bust
The fate of the 290 men and women who were detained at a rave party near Karjat has also been hanging in the balance as tests to detect the presence of drugs in their urine and blood samples had to be halted midway.
"We were in the process of conducting the tests when the blasts happened and we had to reassess our priorities," said the scientist.

Public interest
A senior scientist attached to the ballistics division of the laboratory said that the priority of the cases is determined on the basis of urgency and public interest. "Bomb blasts are a major concern and, hence, are top priority," he said.

The case which is second on the FSL's priority list is the alleged police firing at Jaitapur during a protest in which Tavrez Sejkar of Sakhrinate village was killed.

"We have received 13 Self-Loading Rifles (SLR's) from the local police to ascertain the exact weapon from which the bullet that killed the villager was fired.
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A magisterial inquiry is already going on in the case and the report needs to be submitted urgently."