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Fill up vacancies in forensic science lab, court tells government
The Delhi High Court has pulled up the Delhi government for its laxity in filling up vacancies at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in the capital that had resulted in crime investigations being hindered and asked for an explanation.
The Delhi High Court has pulled up the Delhi government for its laxity in filling up vacancies at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in the capital that had resulted in crime investigations being hindered and asked for an explanation.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice Manmohan asked the government to file a detailed reply on why they had delayed in appointing staff at FSL.
"This is a serious issue and needs to be addressed seriously," the bench said last week while questioning the government on why no action had been taken to dispose of the increasing crime cases in the capital.
Delhi Police counsel Mukta Gupta informed the court that the delay was due to the cases of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) that were languishing in court as they needed a report from the FSL before they were decided.
"In NCB cases, recoveries are huge so lack of staff at FSL hampers the investigation process," Mukta informed the court.
"The number of cases in trial courts are voluminous and we don't know how to go about it. Taking these steps will definitely help in bringing down the pendency in the courts," said a worried bench.
The bench also questioned why the FSL report was not given along with the chargesheet and asked the government to file a detailed reply by Sep 16.
Besides, the court asked the government to place on record the number of NCB cases pending in different courts.
The court was hearing a public interest petition on the insufficient facilities at FSLs all over the country. About 4,000 cases are pending in the FSL in northwest Delhi's Rohini, set up in 1995.
Of the three other laboratories, Chandigarh has a pendency of 48, Calcutta 350 and Hyderabad 627.
In 2007, the court had pulled up the government for not filling up the vacancies but despite that no step has been taken so far.
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