The Criminal Identification Procedures In The Era Of Science And Technology: An Analysis

The Criminal Identification Procedures In The Era Of Science And Technology: An Analysis Of Aspirations And Apprehension Of The Individuals

Dr. Sadanand Pandit, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, the ICFAI University, Baddi, Himachal Pradesh

ABSTRACT

Science and technology has a significant role to play in every walk of human life. The sophisticated methods and equipments are requirement of the day. We can apply such new things in collecting evidence that shall be helpful for disposal of the cases1. Since, there are two conflicting interests exist in the society simultaneously, one to protect the right to privacy of the citizen from being invaded and second, to secure evidence against the offender. It requires reconciliation of two conflicting interests of society2. The criminal law is intended to protect the society by penalising the culprits. However, natural justice demands that no individual should be punished without having a just and fair trial. The provisions of the penal law should be interpreted keeping in mind the changing circumstances of society, the advancement of offence and offenders, development in scientific methods etc., and therefore, the victime of offence should not be deprived of these development in the name of literal interpretation of the provisions of laws. The identification of the criminal is a big challenge that needs to be ascertained in a criminal trial3. The new legislation sets out its objectives to assimilate new measures of identification which have come out recently. Thus, advancement of technology and scientific temperament4 must be observed as a means of investigation that shall be a extraordinary assistance to an enquiry agency5. The paper makes a sincere attempt to highlight the scope of application of science in the criminal identification procedures. Simultaneously, it underlines the challenges faced during investigation process and how to overcome them. The paper also highlights the aspirations and apprehension of the individuals while applying the scientific method for the collection of evidence to curb the crimes and criminals.

Keywords: Identification; Justice; Measurement; Paradigm; Technology.