Dhananjoy Chatterjee was hanged till death on Friday, 25th June 2004 for the rape and murder of a 14 year old school girl in her apartment in Calcutta on 5th March 1990.

The Kanchi Sankaracharya, Jayendra Saraswati was arrested for his involvement in the murder of the Varadaraja Perumal temple Manager Shankararaman.

The 21st Century visualizes a steep rise in Criminal activities around the World. The crime rate in Delhi is more than that of Mumbai, Chennai and Calcutta put together. The most alarming factor is that Women, Children and Senior Citizens are targeted again and again. It gives a sense of insecurity to every innocent citizen of Delhi. The category of serious crime ranges from theft, robbery, decoity, rape, murder, kidnapping etc. On account of peculiar problems such as unchecked migration, illegal settlements, diverse socio-religio-cultural disparities, uneven distribution of incomes etc. the metro cities are facing increased criminal activities. Organized groups, gangsters, professional criminals and even youth and juveniles find crime as a short cut for a lavish life in Meto Cities.

Legally defined, a crime is an act of commission or omission, contrary to municipal law, tending to the prejudice of the community, for which punishment can be inflicted as the result of judicial proceedings taken in the name of the State. Crime is an offence committed against the public, even though only one individual may have been wronged. Crime is a wrong for which the wrongdoer is prosecuted by the state for the purpose of punishment. Crimes have two basic elements: the guilty mind (mens rea) and the guilty act (actus rea). Except as otherwise provided by statute, to constitute a crime an overt act (actus reus) must be accompanied by a criminal intent (mens rea) or by such negligence as is regarded by law as equivalent to a criminal intent. Motive, or that which leads or tempts the mind to indulge in a criminal act, as distinguished from intent, is neither a crime nor an essential element of a crime. The motive with which an offense was committed is immaterial. Proof of motive may be material in proving that the defendant committed a particular crime, but it is not essential to a conviction.

Criminal Law deals with matters relating to investigation, prosecution and punishment of crimes. Criminal law is a branch of law that defines crimes, their nature, and provides for their punishment. The criminal law generally does not require you to perform an action; rather it forbids an unlawful action. Criminal Law is concerned with the Right to Life and the Right to Personal Freedom and the restrictions placed on those rights. The nature and the reason of the restriction, the sanctions imposed for transgressions of restrictions, the remedial methods employed for rehabilitation of the offenders  and the processes involved in the various determinations – these are several facets of the Criminal Law.

The Criminal Law of India has been codified in the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure. The Penal Code is the subjective law and the Code of Criminal Procedure, the adjective or procedural law. Section-4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure says:” All offences under the Indian Penal Code shall be investigated,  inquired into, tried and otherwise dealt with according to the provisions hereinafter contained”.

Criminal Law is necessarily sensitive to changes in social structure and social philosophy. The Indian Penal Code enacted as a general Penal Code for the country in 1860 has undergone very few changes in the last 140 years and more. Very few new crimes have been added to the crimes originally defined and declared punishable then. We often look elsewhere, in the several other Penal Laws enacted separately to discover the developing social consciousness of the Country. There are a number of new offences, which are required to be properly defined and incorporated in the Indian Penal Code.

Forensic Science is extremely helpful in investigation crime specially in detecting deaths due to poisoning, identification of criminals through matching of fingerprints, to detect the causes of explosions either accidental or intentional, identification of writings, DNA typing and various other activities. The DNA typing facility is more in demand for investigation various crimes cases such as murder, rape, rape and murder, paternity disputes, organ transplant, exchange of babies in hospitals etc

In modern criminal law every accused has the right to any and all defenses the law recognizes and permits: e.g., insanity, mistake of fact, or self-defense. The fact that one undertakes a crime on the advice, or as the agent, of another is not a defense; on the other hand, except in the case of homicide, an act that would otherwise constitute a crime may be excused when committed under duress or compulsion that is present, imminent, and impending, and that produces a well-grounded apprehension of death or serious bodily harm if the act is not done. Religious belief is not ordinarily a justification or excuse for the commission of a crime.

Investigating crimes and punishing the guilty is one of the most important sovereign functions of the state without which there would be neither law or order nor Democracy or proper functioning of any other branch of life, be it Constitution, Commerce, Industry, Agriculture or other rural institutions. The importance and independence of investigating machinery regarding crimes can never be over emphasized. On it depends all the values of ethics, morality, justice and fair play to the citizens. In India we have various investigation agencies like Police, CBI, Forensic Science etc.

POLICE: The police came into existence in a society as the repository of the security and penal functions can be called “one of the great organizations” achieved under the aegis of the British rule, whose loyal support to the government served the cause of peace and order, without which  o political structure could have subsisted for long. The concept of the police role and performance underwent a significant change on January  6,1950. The fundamental rights granted in the Constitution and the Directive Principles of the State Policy have been made responsibilities of the Police somewhat more onerous. The police have to secure to every individual citizen a natural and effortless sense of freedom and security, irrespective of his faith or political persuasion for without it, the process of national integration can never be achieved. The role of police in investigating crimes is one of the cardinal features on which the wheels of democracy, the machinery of the Constitution and the conscience of the country revolves. But with the each passing day the image of police is tarnishing. No respectable person dares to step inside the police station. Many crimes go unreported because of the unsympathetic behavior of the police towards common man. The image of the  police tarnished due to the brutality directed against the persons in their custody and increased corruption level in the Police Department. A custodial deaths and rapes are the worst crimes in a civilized society governed by the rule of law.of the state. Historically speaking the Indian Police

ROLE AND DEVELOPMENT OF FORENSIC SCIENCE IN INVESTIGATING CRIME

The application of science and technology to the detection and investigation of crime and administration of justice is not new to India. Although our ancestors did not know forensic science in its present form, scientific methods in one way or other seem to have been followed in the investigation of crime. Indians studied various patterns of the papillary lines, thousands of years ago. It is presumed that they knew about the persistency and individuality of fingerprints, which they used as signatures. Forensic Science is extremely helpful in investigation crime specially in detecting deaths due to poisoning, identification of criminals through matching of fingerprints, to detect the causes of explosions either accidental or intentional, identification of writings, DNA typing and various other activities. The DNA typing facility  is more in demand for investigation various crimes cases such as murder, rape, rape and murder, paternity disputes, organ transplant, exchange of babies in hospitals etc.

PROPOSALS TO MODERNISE CRIME PATROL

In early November this Year a conference of DGP’s and IGP’s at New Delhi unveiled a plan to modernize crime intelligence and overhaul police investigation procedure across the Country. The National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has prepared a National Crime Intelligence Sharing Plan to allow states to share information on criminals in states across the Country. The “National Criminal Intelligence Plan” ensures that the state police can access the centrally operated criminal databank through dedicated lines and servers. This means that a district SP will no longer have to go through an arduous bureaucratic procedure to get information about the local criminals. Like Western Countries, all he has to do is to send the criminal’s fingerprints to get the full data about him. The CBI has also outlined a presentation on the need for using modern technologies by the police departments. These includes forensic acoustics which maps “bars and contours” of voice, forensic chromatography, ultrasound pulse, echo device to detect prohibited weapons, low level light camera and photogrammetry   for real time-photographs of the crime scene.

CONCLUSION

Investigation and Prosecution of all crimes under the Indian Penal Code and other Special Acts like Prevention of Corruption Act and all other penal should be under the control of investigating agencies separated from judicial control. The State or Central Governments should have no control over this area i.e. detection, investigation, prosecution and punishment for serious crimes including corruption, murder, crime against women, crime against state etc. Necessary legislative changes to modernize the existing penal and procedural codes are part of this new dimension. Proper training in newly established forensic colleges with latest scientific way of crime detection should be a condition precedent for policemen and prosecutors.

LawZ Bureau