Investigation into a number of major crime cases ranging from terror threats to forged signatures have been stuck for months or even years on account of pending reports from the Handwriting and Photographic Bureau — a wing of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) that plays a key role in establishing documentary evidence at the trial stage.
As sources within the department blame it on staff crunch, the pendency of cases has gone over 6,000 and the bureau is currently analysing cases pertaining to 2019-2020, except for a few high profile cases that they have taken up on urgent basis.
Significant cases
Among the significant cases that are awaiting the bureau report is the bomb threat case on a flight in March this year. A handwritten note claiming a bomb in the Mumbai-New York flight was found in its toilet. While the flight had to make an emergency landing at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) and nothing suspicious was found in the search, police are still awaiting the bureau’s report on the threat note and the handwriting samples of the 322 passengers and crew members.
Another case where the bureau’s report is pending is that of the 2021 case where a Unit 5 of the Mumbai Crime Branch seized 23 high-end luxury cars, including Mercedes Benz, Audi and Mini Cooper, purchased by fraudulently obtaining bank loans using forged documents containing identities of fictitious persons. While several documents having forged signatures by the accused were sent by the police to the bureau, the reports are still pending, said a crime branch officer.
The report is also pending in the case where CST railway police booked a Bhiwandi resident in May this year for allegedly forging the signature of Member of Parliament Suresh Mhatre to get railway ticket confirmation from Mumbai to Nanded. As there was suspicion when the railway staff contacted Mhatre’s office, it was confirmed that the letter was not issued by him and his signature was forged. Police identified the person and a writing sample and forged letter were sent to the Handwriting Bureau but the report is still pending.
Senior officials in the bureau say that while the pendency is primarily on account of staff shortage, they, however, say that they do prioritise high profile cases that need urgent redressal. One such example is the suicide case of IIT student Darshan Solanki, who had allegedly jumped from the seventh floor of the hostel, leaving behind a suicide note allegedly blaming one of his classmates to have threatened him. In that case, the bureau submitted the report within a month clarifying that the handwriting of the note belonged to the deceased.
Pendency
Over the past decade, only 24 handwriting experts out of the 40 sanctioned staff working at the four branches — Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Aurangabad. While 600 cases are awaiting bureau reports in Mumbai, around 2,000 cases in Nagpur and 550 in Aurangabad are also pending. The Pune bureau tops with a pendency of around 3,000 cases.
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Data shows that the pendency of cases in Mumbai has jumped exponentially over the past decade. While there were only around 35 cases pending in 2012, it now stands at 600.
An officer said, “The cases increased during the pandemic and at present, around 600 cases are pending. Mumbai has only six posts of handwriting experts. The officers are being transferred on deportation within four branches as per requirement to clear pendency.”
The maximum cases pending are in Pune as the bureau has much bigger jurisdiction comprising Konkan range, western Maharashtra, Navi Mumbai and Thane. While Aurangabad has five experts, including the head, which covers nine districts of Marathwada area, and Nagpur has four experts covering seven districts of Vidarbha region.
“The main reason behind pendency of cases is the shortage of staff and the absence of clerical staff in the Mumbai office. This is an important bureau. The opinion of handwriting experts during trials helps ascertain the evidence so that the culprits can be identified and punished,” said a senior police officer.
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According to a senior IPS officer, “The opinion of a handwriting expert has great evidential value in many cases such as disputes due to forged handwriting or signature at someone’s will or on property or share certificate after the death of a person. In such cases it is required to take an opinion of a handwriting expert to prove the rightful person.”
Officials say that the workload in the department has also been increasing with the rise in the population in the city. “We only give priority to high profile cases such as the report submitted in IIT suicide case and in another case where a politician from Gujarat died by suicide in a South Mumbai hotel. But there are several cases pending for over six to seven years,” said an official from the Handwriting Bureau on the condition of anonymity.
Demand to merge
Amid the challenges faced by the bureau, a report by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has pointed out that the Handwriting Bureau and fingerprint department should merge with the state Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL). Officials say that the FSL does not have the technology and completely depends on manual work that requires time.
Since 2019, the department has been writing to the higher authority in CID and Home department of the state government to merge the bureau with the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), where they could work in a scientific environment. They have cited that in more than 25 states, the bureau works under the state FSL, but their request has remained unheeded.
