Introduction and branches of forensic science

After a fire in a Mumbai building, three different people arrive with three different kits: one swabs the walls for accelerant, one examines the burnt wiring, one lifts a print from a door handle. All three are doing forensic science, but each belongs to a different branch. The law does not list every branch; it simply says that where the court needs special skill, a skilled person's opinion counts. This topic introduces the science and its branches, and shows where each one plugs into the Adhiniyam.

In two minutes

Forensic science is science applied to questions a court must decide; its branches (medicine, toxicology, biology and DNA, fingerprints, ballistics, questioned documents, digital forensics and others) all enter court through the expert-opinion rules of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023.

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Law of Evidence on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.