ISLAMABAD: After Imran Ali was arrested in the Zainab rape and murder case, his DNA samples were sent to Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) in Lahore along with 1,050 other samples that were taken over the course of the investigations. Report from PFSA confirmed that Imran’s DNA sample matched with the traces that were collected from Zainab’s body.
In the aftermath of the arrest and keeping in view the ambiguity that prevails, even in the legal circles regarding the admissibility of DNA as evidence in court, a private media outlet has stated that DNA is an admissible evidence, especially in criminal cases.
According to the report, a Supreme Court judge in a case observed that it never ruled that DNA report is not admissible evidence.
Advocate Tariq Mahmood who appeared in a murder case before the three-judge bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa told the media outlet that Justice Khosa noted that SC never ruled that DNA report is not admissible as every criminal case has different dimensions
The dimensions of each case are largely different than the other, and it cannot be argued that DNA is inadmissible in the court of law.
In a recent verdict, PHC had ordered the police to conduct DNA tests in every case to ensure that the suspect is the culprit. A single-member bench of PHC, in December, ruled that it is mandatory to conduct DNA tests on both the suspected rapist and his alleged victim in sexual assault cases.
Justice Roohul Amin Khan Chamkani ruled that under Section 164-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which was made into law through the Criminal Law Act 2016 (Amendment) dictates that samples of DNA of both should be collected and sent for examination at the earliest.
The bench ruled that Section 164-B CrPC related to conducting of DNA tests shall be applicable to offenses under Section 376 (Punishment for Rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Legal experts also state that multiple cases have been investigated wherein DNA report has been considered as evidence.
One hopes that the protocols devised for the collection, labelling, sequestration and storage of biologic evidence avoid degradation of the evidence, are transparently reliable, and exclude the possibility of either contamination or tampering.
yr ha sab jot bolta ha apni casat krta ha
Comments are closed.