Webinar on Forensic Science at PU

Chandigarh, October 21, 2021: The Institute of Forensic Science and Criminology, Panjab University, Chandigarh organized today a one day National level webinar on Forensic Science in India.  
            Professor Raj Kumar, Chancellor, Panjab University in his inaugural address  enlightened the audience with the importance of conducting interdisciplinary activities at the institution for the students as it is very much helpful in their overall development and also it connects the students with related areas such as artificial intelligence, cyber crime and IOT. He emphasized the importance of Forensic Science in criminal justice delivery system in the country. He further stated that the expert should help the local administration as well as the police personnel in solving the crimes starting from the registration of the crime to proceeding up to the court of law by providing their valuable inputs at every stage. He stressed that the whole judicial system is looking up towards the Forensic Scientist for their reliable, unbiased and accurate input. He urged the students to focus more on deliverables than on academics.
            The distinguished scientist and Forensic expert Dr. S.K. Jain, Director cum Chief Forensic Scientist, Directorate of Forensic Science Services, Ministry of Home Affairs (Govt. of India), New Delhi delivered his lecture on Forensic Science in India: A Path Forward. He gave an informative lecture on the use of forensics in solving numerous types of crimes happening worldwide including India. In his address he discussed the need of establishment of more advanced Forensic Science laboratories in India as per the crime trends occurring in the country. He also told about the upcoming Forensic establishments in India and discussed about the various reinforcements being taking place to overcome the shortcomings of the conventional methods used for solving crimes. He further emphasized the need for considering and analyzing material evidence carefully as it often gets contaminated if not handled properly or at times get fabricated in the hands of corrupt officers. The dissemination of knowledge and training in terms of handling the evidence is very crucial amongst the police personal as they are the first to visit any crime scene. He even added the need for recruiting atleast one forensic personal in the investigation team thereby adding more value to the investigation as the forensic scientist is skilled in this field. He also discussed some the real cases solved by him and his team in the Central Forensic Science Laboratory to the students and discussed some very unusual cases happening these days as the criminals are getting smarter, their ways of committing crimes has changed which clearly demands the need for more trained and skilled forensic experts. He concluded with the remarks that “Forensic science is a very important part of the criminal justice system, because it provides scientific facts based on hard evidence”.
            Earlier, Prof. Vishal Sharma informed that the department is going to start the national and international webinar lecture series in Forensic Science.
            More than 90 delegates participated in the webinar including Scientists from forensic labs, faculty and students and research scholars from various Universities.