47% forensics scientist posts in MP vacant, hurdle for new law

Indore: Madhya Pradesh police don’t have enough forensic scientists to meet the requirements of Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and Bhartiya Sakshya Sanhita (BNSS) — the latter requiring mandatory forensic examination of scenes of crimes that carry punishment of over seven years’ imprisonment.
Official records say MP's forensics department has 299 sanctioned posts of scientific officers, but only 140 are filled, leaving 47% posts vacant.Of those employed, only 19 officers are assigned to the field for crime scene examination. The rest are in laboratories or given other chores.

Those working in the field are distributed across 15 state zones while two are stationed in districts.
In this all-hands-on-deck scenario, two senior scientific officers retired on June 30 — on the eve of implementation of BNS and BNSS. This brought down the total number of field officers to 17.
Central Forensic Science Laboratory (Bhopal) director Shashikant Shukla told TOI, “We have submitted an extensive proposal to the government requesting the appointment of 876 individuals, including scientists and support staff, such as drivers and workers, according to the need in the districts. In the first meeting, 508 have been approved and further process is underway.”
He added, “Even if we get all the posts filled, it will take a few years to streamline the process.”
The Centre has given all states a five-year period to address shortcomings in the forensics department, build infrastructure, and recruit more scientists.
In most parts of MP, there is typically only one scientific officer responsible for overseeing two or more districts within a particular division. This arrangement significantly delays response times to crime scenes.
A scientific officer, seeking anonymity, said, “Besides crime scene examination and preparation of impeccable reports for chargesheets, we have to appear in courts during trials. This greatly adds to the pressure.”
During the recent hearing of a suo motu petition taken up by high court regarding delay in presenting forensic and DNA reports in criminal cases, the state govt submitted a status report that said such reports are pending in over 2,500 cases.
As of now, five forensic laboratories, including the main one in Sagar, are operational. Three more labs will be functional by Aug 2024, said officials.