Another Raj legacy in Shimla maybe history soon

The GEQD had played a significant role in unearthing India’s infamous hawala scam in 1995-96 and other crimes.

According to records,GEQD was set up to keep tabs on the incoming and outgoing postal documents,and identification of handwritings of the “seditious” literature of the Indian freedom fighters. This has remained an institution of great historical importance though it’s really tough to find the exact records related to letters and literature of freedom fighters.

Yet,of all those high-profile cases,investigated by the CBI and other premier investigation agencies,the GEQD is a rich repository of cases,including the multi-crore security scam,the case of alleged bribes paid to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MPs and forgery of signatures of the Prime Minister.

According to the decision of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA),conveyed to the Director of CFSL,Chandigrah,Dr S K Shukla,on August 6: “The MHA has accepted the recommendations of the consultants,who were appointed by the ministry to review working of all forensic institution,and have recommended merger of GEQDs at Hyderabad,Kolkata and Shimla (along with the Chandigarh unit) with CFSLs at Hyderabad,Kolkata and Chandigarh respectively”.

On August 16,Dr Shukla wrote,“The GEQD,Shimla,along with its Chandigarh unit,stands merged with CFSL,Chandigarh,under the administrative control of the Director,SFSL,Chandigarh,with effect from 6.8.2010”.

The development has caused panic among employees in Shimla who say similar attempts were made in1966 and later in 1995. However,in 1966,then chief minister Y S Parmar took up the matter with prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and got the move dropped. Later,Virbhadra Singh also opposed the move to shift the institution and convinced prime minister P V Narsimha Rao and the home minister S B Chavan to drop the idea.

The GEQD,till now,had retained its independent identity even after setting up of Central Forensic Labs in the country,and continued to play their distinctive role in examining questioned documents,which were valuable to investigations.