DNA Profiling: HC Guidelines To The Investigating Authorities

Key Takeaways

• The husband of a woman went missing and she filed a report before the police with the suspicions of involvement of her in-laws.
• The dead body of a person who had a tight resemblance to the missing man was found and the police and Court found it to be the same man.
• The Court relied on previous judgments of the Supreme Court and the High Court on the investigation procedure for missing persons.
• Proper guidelines owing to the process have been laid down for the State of Rajasthan to follow.
• The article discusses the guidelines and the direction elaborately for better understanding of the same and how DNA can be deciding factor in many cases of identification of a person.

Introduction/Background

The petitioner Urmila Devi has approached the Court by way of writ of habeas corpus petition alleging that her husband Shri Prem Ratan, aged about 72 years, went missing on 04.09.2019 and since then,he had been untraceable for them.The petitioner’s son Shri Gopal Krishan had lodged a missing person report at the Police Station Rajaldesar on 10.09.2019,wherein,no allegations were made about any foul play in the disappearance of Shri Prem Ratan.For the first time on 22.09.2019,the petitioner forwarded a complaint to the Superintendent of Police,Churu alleging that her brother-in-law and sister-in-law might be responsible for the disappearance of her husband.The petitioner’s son Gopal Krishan Soni lodged a complaint against the respondent Gordhanlal for the offences under Sections 420,467,468 and 471 Indian Penal Code in the court of ACJM,Ratangarh on 09.12.2019,alleging that his uncle,the alleged accused,was responsible for forging documents to usurp the property of his father,who might have been murdered,so as to destroy evidence of forgery.

The dead body was recovered on 05.09.2019 and photographs were snapped thereof.However,the petitioner and her son refused to identify the dead body to be that of Shri Prem Ratan.

Court’s Analysis

The deceased was an elderly man with grey hair, a moustache, and a French beard, whose images were taken by GRP officials. Shri Prem Ratan had grey hair, a moustache, and a French beard, according to the photograph that was included to the missing person complaint. The eerie similarity of features between the two sets of images is far too stunning to be ignored. Both the picture appended with the Missing Person Report and the pictures of the dead body had grey mane and facial hair. In both photos, the moustache and beard have the same shape. The fact that Shri Prem Ratan left his house on September 4, 2019, and that the dead body was discovered a short distance away on the railway tracks the next morning adds to the likelihood that the body is that of Shri Prem Ratan. The Court was persuaded that the body discovered near Sadulpur's railway tracks belonged to Shri Prem Ratan and no one else.

However, the terrible circumstance in which family are either unable to authenticate the identification or deliberately avoid doing so could have been avoided if DNA samples from the deceased person had been saved.

HC Directions

1. Publish images of the missing people in the newspaper and broadcast them on television as soon as possible, preferably within one week of receiving the report. Photographs of a missing individual must be widely distributed at all prominent outlets in the city/town/village in question, including railway stations, interstate bus terminals, airports, regional passport offices, and law enforcement officials at border checkpoints. This should be done as soon as possible, but no later than one week after receiving the complaint. However, such images of a minor/major female may not be published without the express approval of the parents/guardians.
2. Make quick enquiries from friends, co-workers, acquaintances, relatives, and others in the neighbourhood and at the missing girl's place of work/study. Similarly, all clues from the missing person's papers and things should be checked as soon as possible.
3. Make contact with the missing person's most recent school/educational institutions' principal, class instructor, and students. If the missing girl or woman is employed, the most recent employer and her co-workers at the place of employment should be contacted.
4. Conduct an investigation into the whereabouts of the missing girl or woman's extended family, neighbours, and school teachers, as well as school pals.
5. Make the required inquiries to see whether there have been any previous occurrences or reports of family violence. The investigative officer/agency must then:

a) Follow up diligently to ensure that the records requested from the parents are obtained and examined for clues.

b) Hospitals and cemeteries will be searched as soon as the complaint is received.

c) Within a month of her absence, the reward for providing information about the missing person should be disclosed.

d) Hue and Cry notices must be delivered within a month.

e) As much as feasible, the investigation should be conducted by female police officers.

f) The concerned police commissioner or the State Police DIG/IG would investigate the possibilities of forming a multifunctional force to track down girl children and women.

g) In addition, in major cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai, the investigating officer should quickly check red light areas and try to locate minor girls. If any minor girl is found (whether or not she was recently brought there), her permission will be taken and she will be taken to a children's home (Section 34 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of the Children) Act, 2000, and the I.O. will take appropriate steps to ensure that she receives all medical and other facilities.

Guidelines for Supervision

The computerised "Talash" programme is not being used by field officers during investigations into cases of missing persons, kidnapped, deserters, wanted criminals, escaped criminals, unidentified dead bodies, and so on.

The following instructions were published to help streamline the monitoring and supervision process:

i. The Police Computer Wing (SCRB) will provide the seven forms to District Superintendents of Police and the Commission of Police (Missing, Kidnapped, Deserter, Wanted, Escaped, Unidentified Person, and Unidentified Dead Body).

ii. COPs/SPs will provide PS with sufficient forms.

iii. The Investigating Officer should send wireless signals to DSPs, Police Computer Wing, DCRB, and Modus Operandi Bureau immediately after registering the case (Missing, Kidnapped, Deserter, Wanted, Escaped, Unidentified Person, and Unidentified Dead Body).

iv. If not previously done so, SHOs will prepare "Talash" Forms for all cases reported in 2005 and send them to DSPs, the Police Computer Wing, the DCRB, and the Modus Operandi Bureau.

v. The IOs will gather photos of unidentified dead corpses and send them to the DSP's Police Computer Wing, the DCRB, and the Modus Operandi Bureau.

vi. The Police Computer Wing will create software that will match all seven categories based on many parameters, including photographs. Within two months, the Dy. Superintendent of Police, Police Computer Wing, will provide a project report on this.

vii. Manual verification should be carried out in the Police Computer Wing by a Special Team comprised of one police inspector and three police constables.

viii. The circular referred to in the third reference is being resent to all District Superintendents of Police and Commissioners of Police to reaffirm the procedure that must be carefully followed.

ix. The Investigating Officer should be a police inspector.

x. For reviewing the development of the cases, the instructions indicated in the third reference cited above should be strictly followed.

xi. In the Districts, a Special Cell consisting of one SI, two HCs, and two PCs shall be formed to collect relevant information in all seven categories.

xii. A monthly meeting between the SP and the IOs and DSPs should be held to track the case's progress.

xiii. A notice should be sent to DSPs, Police Computer Wing, DCRB, and Modus Operandi Bureau in all situations of Missing, Kidnapped, Deserter, Wanted, Escaped, Unidentified Person, Unidentified Dead Body, and when traced.

The Director General of Police will endeavour to include these concepts into the police manual as much as possible. The observations made by the Hon'ble the Supreme Court in the case of Lokniti Foundation V. Union of India & Ors. were taken into consideration, in which learned counsel for the Union of India had informed the Hon'ble Supreme Court that legislation is being considered to have DNA profiling done on all unidentified dead bodies and missing persons. The State of Rajasthan would be wise to enact such legislation in order to avoid the regrettable situation that has arisen in this case and that occurs on a regular basis.

In all cases of unidentified dead bodies, the police officials involved, whether local or railway, should make immediate efforts to contact the nearest Medical College/CMHO/Medical Jurist for the purpose of collecting viscera samples from the bodies so that they can be preserved for DNA comparison/analysis as and when required.

Conclusion

A widespread myth is that a person must be gone for at least 24 hours before being considered legally missing, however this is rarely the case. Law enforcement authorities frequently emphasise the importance of reporting a situation as soon as feasible. This case is an eye opener for the people as it has brought to light the precedents on the investigation procedure to be adopted and it shows the importance that DNA plays in solving cases. The State of Rajasthan has moved a step ahead in getting speedy justice to its citizens and it is important that these guidelines are implemented by all the states. The scientific development has enabled the country to reach such a stage where DNA can be used for the identification and its proper implementation would be a huge success.