Forensic project 2019

TITLE- “Legality of the DNA evidence and brief of ‘THE DNA

TECHNOLOGY (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018”

SYNOPSIS
PART-I

 INTRODUCTION
 Outline of the paper

PART-II

 REVIEW OF LITERATURE
 Defining DNA
 DNA and Indian Legal System
 Highlights of the Bill

PART-III

 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BILL

 Context
 Consent for collecting bodily substance
 DNA data bank
 Offences and penalties

PART-III

 KEY ISSUES AND ANALYSIS

 Bill may cover DNA technology for medical or research purposes
 Inclusion of civil matters in the Bill
 Removal of DNA profiles

PART-IV

 CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Forensic project 2019

PROLOGUE

DNA test or ‘DNA Profiling’ as popularly known is a technique in which a sample of DNA is run through a
laboratory assay to generate information about it, looking specifically for DNA which could identify the
source of the sample, or be used as a base of comparison between two samples. This technique is used
at various places for different purposes ranging from law enforcement to Medical Treatment. The
technology of DNA Test was first reported in the year 1984 by Sir Alec Jeffrey at the University of
Leicester in England. Soon after this incident, it became one of the most important technologies to be
used in the Forensic Science. In the publications in 1985 by Jeffery and his colleagues, the term ‘DNA
Fingerprint’ carried the connotation of absolute identification. Forensic DNA typing which was first used
in the year 1985 in casework in United Kingdom was initiated in the United States in the late 1986 by the
Commercial Laboratories and in 1988 by The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is now used in a
number of cases relating to crime, divorce, adultery etc. In forensic application, minutiae in the
fingerprint patterns, not ridge counts, are used for personal identification.

The application of DNA testing has been used in India for a long period of time. Sometimes, it has been
used to resolve certain question which sometimes becomes very difficult to resolve such as “Has the
crime been committed?”, “How and when was the crime committed?”, “Who committed the crime?”
You must be aware of the incidents of the movies when an inspector finds something at the crime spot
i.e. blood, hair etc. Now what is the use of these material evidences in the investigation? The answer is
very simple, that these material evidences help them in determining as to who was actually present at
the place where the incident happened. DNA technology has also been used in the civil cases, to
determine the biological relationship between a two or sometimes three individual. Usually, it has been
used to determine the paternity of a person, where a person denies being the biological parent of a
person. DNA parentage testing may help a person in absolving him from the charge of being the
biological parent of a person, but it cannot be trusted to prove absolutely that a person is the child’s
biological parent; however it can provide a probability.

Written consent by individuals is required to collect DNA samples from them. Consent is not
required for offences with punishment of more than seven years of imprisonment or death. The
Bill provides for the removal of DNA profiles of suspects on filing of a police report or court
order, and of undertrials on the basis of a court order. Profiles in the crime scene and missing
persons’ index will be removed on a written request.

The paper looks into the constitutional aspect of evidence of DNA and the recently passed Bill
on DNA technology.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Author shall use Indian Law Institute (ILI) pattern of citation in the
paper.