PU’s Institute of Forensic Science holds webinar on Emerging Trends on Document Forgeries

Chandigarh, March 19, 2022: The Institute of Forensic Science and Criminology, Panjab University, Chandigarh organized a one-day National webinar on ‘Emerging Trends in Document Forgeries’. The Chairperson, Dr. Vishal Sharma hosted the webinar and welcomed the guests on the ongoing lecture series  conducted at the institute of Forensic Science and Criminology, Panjab University, Chandigarh. The Chief Guest of the National webinar Sh. Vikram Nayyar, Registrar cum FDO, Panjab University, in his inaugural address explained that crime of Document forgery or falsification is a highly complex crime. This is due to the various legal aspects that it presents. At the base of this crime are also the forensic experts who urge as fundamental for the good prosecution of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedural Law. He emphasized on the role of forensic document examiner in dealing with forgeries. He also added that understanding the concept of forgeries and its examination is not only important to the forensic scientist but also to the layman and officials dealing with the documents in an organization. Lastly, he appreciated the Chairperson for organizing such webinars on current and advanced topics in the field of Forensic Science.

The distinguished key note speaker Sh. Mohinder Singh, former GEQD, Directorate of Forensic Science, Ministry of Home Affairs (Govt. of India), delivered his talk on Emerging Trends in Document Forgeries. He began his lecture by explaining the meaning of emerging trends and its relevance in forensic question document examining. He discussed about the conventional methods that were used for forgery and the advancement in techniques (techno-driven forgery) that have been adapted by the forger these days. In this way he provided a comparison between the conventional and non-conventional methods of forgery and highlighted the smart means of forgery that are difficult to be traced easily. Not only this, he also shared a few practical examples where conventional and non- conventional methods were used for imitating a document and how the document examiner proved it to be falsified. He even added that the role of a certified question document examiner is crucial in solving such cases. The lecture was made more interesting and knowledgeable by the addition of real time cases that were solved by Sh. Mohinder Singh and other scientist during his service. He concluded the lecture with a quotation “Whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking” – Albert Einstein.

More than 70 delegates participated in the webinar including Scientist from forensic labs, faculty and students and research scholars from various Universities. Dr. Vishal Sharma, Convener of the webinar said that many more such lecture series have been scheduled in the coming days at Panjab University for the training of the students and to make ware the general public as well as the officials’ aware of the emerging trends in crime and its modus operandi in Indian as well as global context.