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LL.B. (Three Years) Sem 5 Law of Forensic Science Oct 2025 Question Paper with Solutions

SPPU Solved Question Papers

Law of Forensic Science

Previous Year Question Paper with Solution

LL.B. (Three Years) · Sem 5

Oct 2025 Examination

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Mumbai

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First published on munotes.in on 5 November 2026.

Published by munotes.in, Mumbai.

Model answers written and edited by the munotes.in editorial desk.

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The University does not publish an official answer key for this paper. The answers in this volume are model answers, written to show how a full-mark answer is built. They are a study aid, not an authority on what an examiner marked.

The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Savitribai Phule Pune University at the Oct 2025 examination.

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Contents

The questions below are the paper as Savitribai Phule Pune University set it at the Oct 2025 examination, in the order it was set.

MarksPage

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MarksPage

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The Paper as Set

The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the Oct 2025 examination, reproduced as Savitribai Phule Pune University set them, in the order it set them. Nothing has been reworded, added or left out. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.

Duration 3 hours  ·  Total marks 70  ·  14 questions answered

How to use this volume

Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.

Read the original question paper

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SECTION I

PART A

Answer any two · 30 Marks

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Q1)Elucidate the Meaning, Nature, Scope & Development of Forensic Science.[15]

Answer

For full marks, cover: the meaning (definition; the word "forensic"); its nature (applied, comparative, inferential, interdisciplinary, adversarial); its objectives; the principles it rests on (Locard, individuality, progressive change, comparison, Kirk); its scope (by subject, by stage, by question, by proceeding; what it cannot do); its development abroad (Bertillon, Herschel, Faulds, Galton, Henry, Locard) and in India (the 1897 bureau, laboratories, NFSU 2020, the three new laws of 2024, section 176(3) BNSS); the law that admits it (BSA section 39; Selvi; Kathi Kalu Oghad); its limits; a table; a conclusion.

Meaning

Forensic science is the application of science to material connected with an alleged offence, to assist the administration of justice. It covers the identification, collection, preservation, examination and interpretation of that material.

The word "forensic" comes from the Latin forum, the place where public matters and disputes were heard. So forensic science is science used for the courts.

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Nature

  1. Applied. It applies physics, chemistry, biology, medicine and computing to legal questions.
  2. Comparative. Much of it compares a questioned item with a known standard.
  3. Inferential, with a scale of certainty. Its conclusions are opinions, graded from identification to elimination.
  4. Interdisciplinary. It draws on many sciences at once.
  5. Adversarial setting. Its results are tested by cross-examination in court.

Objectives

  1. To establish that an offence occurred, and how.
  2. To reconstruct events at the scene.
  3. To identify persons and objects.
  4. To link a person to a place or victim, or to exclude an innocent person.
  5. To produce evidence the court can use.
  6. To help prevent crime.

The principles it rests on

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  1. The exchange principle, associated with Edmond Locard, whose Lyon laboratory dates from 1910: every contact leaves a trace.
  2. Individuality: no two things are exactly alike. This supports identification by fingerprints, DNA profiles and tool marks.
  3. Progressive change: everything changes with time, which is why delay destroys evidence.
  4. Comparison: like must be compared with like, against a known standard.
  5. Physical evidence does not lie, associated with Paul Kirk, but people who handle it can make mistakes.

Scope

1. By subject matter: forensic medicine, toxicology, serology and DNA, ballistics, fingerprints, questioned documents, chemistry, physics, photography, psychology, odontology, anthropology, and digital forensics.

2. By stage of the criminal process: prevention, the crime scene, investigation, trial, sentencing, and after conviction.

3. By the question asked: what is this item, and do two items share an origin? Who is this person, how and when did it happen, in what order, and from where?

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4. By type of proceeding: criminal trials mainly, but also civil cases such as paternity, insurance and disputed documents.

What it cannot do: decide guilt, answer a question nobody asked, supply certainty the science lacks, or cure a broken chain of custody.

Development abroad

  1. Alphonse Bertillon devised anthropometry, body measurements for identifying offenders. It failed because it depended on the operator and was useless on a crime scene mark.
  2. Sir William Herschel, in 1858, in the Hooghly district of Bengal, used fingerprints for personal identification.
  3. Dr. Henry Faulds showed that latent prints at a scene could detect a criminal.
  4. Sir Francis Galton established the uniqueness and permanence of fingerprints.
  5. Sir Edward Richard Henry, with Khan Bahadur Azizul Haque and Rai Bahadur Hem Chandra Bose, devised the fingerprint classification system.
  6. Edmond Locard gave the exchange principle and the first police laboratory (Lyon, 1910).
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Development in India

  1. 1897: the world's first Finger Print Bureau, at the Writers' Building, Calcutta.
  2. Laboratories: Central and State Forensic Science Laboratories, and the Government Examiners of Questioned Documents.
  3. Statutes: from the Identification of Prisoners Act 1920 to the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022.
  4. 2020: the National Forensic Sciences University Act (Act 32 of 2020) made the University an institution of national importance.
  5. 1 July 2024: the BNS, BNSS and BSA replaced the old criminal laws. Section 176(3) of the BNSS requires a forensic expert to visit the scene, with videography, for offences punishable with seven years or more. It applies from the date each State notifies, within five years.
  6. Section 105 of the BNSS requires audio-video recording of search and seizure.
  7. 2025: the Supreme Court gave directions on the chain of custody of DNA samples, in Kattavellai @ Devakar v. State of Tamil Nadu, 2025 INSC 845.
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Importance

  1. Witnesses may be unreliable or hostile.
  2. Many offences have no witness at all.
  3. It protects the innocent by excluding them.
  4. It is now a statutory duty under section 176(3) of the BNSS.
  5. Crime has become technical and digital.

The branches of forensic science

  1. Forensic medicine: injuries, cause and time of death, and age.
  2. Forensic toxicology: poisons, drugs and alcohol.
  3. Serology and DNA: blood, semen and other body fluids, and DNA profiles.
  4. Ballistics: firearms, bullets and gunshot residue.
  5. Fingerprints: identification by friction ridges.
  6. Questioned documents: handwriting, signatures, ink and paper.
  7. Forensic chemistry and physics: drugs, explosives, glass, paint and soil.
  8. Digital forensics: computers and phones.
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  1. Forensic odontology and anthropology: teeth and bones, for identifying the dead.
  2. Forensic psychology: the mind and behaviour, in investigation and in court.

The institutions

  1. Central and State Forensic Science Laboratories, with divisions for ballistics, biology and DNA, chemistry, documents, physics and toxicology.
  2. Finger Print Bureaux, and the National Crime Records Bureau.
  3. Government Examiners of Questioned Documents.
  4. Chemical Examiners, for viscera and poisons.
  5. The National Forensic Sciences University, for teaching, research and training.

A laboratory has four functions: analysis, collection at the scene under section 176(3), research, and training of judges, scientists and police.

The law that admits it

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  1. Section 39(1) of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 replaced section 45 of the Evidence Act. It makes relevant the opinion of a person specially skilled in science, art, any other field, handwriting or finger impressions.
  2. The constitutional line:
  3. In State of Bombay v. Kathi Kalu Oghad, AIR 1961 SC 1808, eleven judges held that specimen handwriting and finger impressions may be compelled. They give material for comparison, not personal knowledge.
  4. In Selvi v. State of Karnataka, (2010) 7 SCC 263, the Court held that narco-analysis, polygraph and brain mapping cannot be administered by force, because their results are testimonial.

Forensic science and the criminal justice system

Forensic science serves every part of the system. The police use it to investigate, the prosecution to prove, the defence to test the prosecution, and the court to decide. It also serves the innocent, because a negative result can clear a suspect.

Limits

  1. It is not infallible: contamination, bias and weak techniques cause errors.
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  1. It is not investigation: it answers the questions put to it.
  2. It does not decide guilt: the opinion is advisory, and the court decides.
  3. India still has no forensic regulator, no statutory accreditation, and no DNA statute.

At a glance

PointContent
Meaningscience applied to legal questions, for the courts
Natureapplied, comparative, inferential, interdisciplinary, adversarial
PrinciplesLocard's exchange; individuality; progressive change; comparison
Scopesubject, stage, question, proceeding
DevelopmentHerschel 1858; Calcutta bureau 1897; Lyon 1910; NFSU 2020; BNSS 2024
LawBSA s.39(1); Kathi Kalu Oghad; Selvi
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Conclusion

Conclusion. Forensic science is the application of science to the identification, collection, examination and interpretation of material connected with an offence, to assist justice. It is applied, comparative, inferential and interdisciplinary, and rests on Locard's exchange principle, individuality, progressive change and comparison. Its scope runs across many sciences, every stage of the criminal process and civil disputes. But it cannot decide guilt or cure a broken chain of custody. It developed from Bertillon, Herschel, Galton and Henry to Locard's laboratory. In India it grew from the Calcutta bureau of 1897 to the NFSU (2020) and the new duty under section 176(3) of the BNSS. Its results enter court as expert opinion under section 39(1) of the BSA, within the limits set by Kathi Kalu Oghad and Selvi.

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