Space crunch damages body of evidence

Items that constitute evidence in criminal cases, also called muddemaal, range from blood-stained clothing and firearms to practically anything seized from the scene of crime. However, with the Sessions Court store-room bursting at the seams, this vast body of evidence has been left to the vagaries of either theelements or human caprice.

Sources say in 1997, packets of drugs worth lakhs of rupees seized under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, were stolen from the Sessions Court premises simply because there wasn’t enough space to keep them. Since it is impossible for the court to accommodate the tonnes of drugs seized so frequently, the authorities have now resorted to retaining only samples of bulk drugs before a pre-trial destruction.

Public prosecutors point out that improper storage could seriously compromise cases and could even lead to unjust acquittals. In assault cases, for instance, where weapons turn blunt, this could weaken the prosecution case, advocates explains. In a 1983 attempted murder case, which was heard in 1996, the blood-stained clothes of the deceased were found missing, according to one prosecutor.

Prosecutors also point out that the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) are being violated as they require police officers to submit the items to themagistrate’s court along with the chargesheet. The magistrate’s court is then required to submit the muddemal to the Sessions Court when the case is committed to the upper court.

Section 173 of the CrPC, which includes Section 170 (2), states: “When the officer in charge of a police station forwards an accused person to a magistrate or takes security for his appearance before such magistrate under this section, he shall send to such magistrate any weapon or other article which it may be necessary to produce before him…”

Section 209 (c) adds: “When in a case instituted on a police report or, otherwise, the accused appears or is brought before the magistrate and it appears to the magistrate that the offence can be tried exclusively by the Court of Session, he shall… (c) send to that court the record of the case and the documents and articles if any, which are to be produced in evidence.”

However, the muddemal often remains at the police station even after a case is committed to the Sessions Court,prosecutors point out. They say problems inevitably arise when a case takes three to four years for the trial to begin. “In a city like Mumbai, new muddemal is generated every day. Where is the space to keep all of it? Moreover, who would be responsible if it goes missing or is damaged,” asks a public prosecutor.

Officers of the Sessions Court admit that the premises cannot hold any more items; even the strong-room where articles like jewellery are kept, is packed to capacity.

Asked to comment on the sorry state of affairs, S K Shah, secretary with the Law and Judiciary Department, told Express Newsline: “There has to be a demand for space by the judiciary on which the government could act.”Prosecutors, however, say it is anybody’s guess as to when that will happen.