Court had asked FSL to send CDs directly

The mishandling of the 16-year-old Sister Abhaya death case has cast a shadow on the integrity of the CBI. While the CBI accused an official of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for “allegedly tampering with the narco CD tapes’’, it stood exposed when the Kerala High Court rapped the shoddy investigation. Sensing there was something amiss, the court, on August 5, ordered that FSL Bangalore send the CDs directly to the court. In the order (TOI has a copy), Justice V Ram Kumar had said: “The director of the FSL Madiwala, Bangalore, is directed to send the CDs at the earliest to the registrar general of the Kerala High Court, Ernakulam, Kochi, treating the same as most urgent. The Director, FSL, Bangalore, shall not allow any person, including the CBI, to have access to their system. The CDs shall not be forwarded to this court through the CBI. Utmost confidentiality shall be maintained both in the process of downloading into the compact discs as well as in forwarding the same to the Registrar General.’’ The court issued this order to the FSL after the CBI presented narco tapes with missing links to the court. While processing data from three original CDs to one tape, the CBI had cut out some vital information which the court noticed and asked FSL to send the tapes directly, the judge said. FSL vindicated “Before parting with this case, I wish to place on record the valuable response shown to this court by B M Mohan, director, FSL, and S Malini, assistant director. It is a matter of great pleasure to note that notwithstanding the fact that FSL is under the police department, the officers have exhibited remarkable independence and integrity. I have the least suspicion that FSL had indulged in either editing or manipulating the CDs so as to make them incongruous or incompatible with the narco reports. I convey the appreciation of the high court for their valuable services in complying with the orders of the court.’’

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