Dr G.K. Goswami, IPS officer of 1997 batch from U.P. cadre, is currently serving as Inspector General of Police, Uttar Pradesh, and has served as Joint Director of Anti-Corruption Zone, and Lucknow Zone of the Central Bureau of India, and also served as the Director CBI Academy, Ghaziabad. Earlier, he rendered his expertise to the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) as an expert on organized crimes. He has travelled far and wide and shared his experience and views on a wide array of issues concerning policing and law enforcement. In the State of Uttar Pradesh, he served as District Police Chief (SSP) in various districts including Lucknow, Agra, Varanasi, NOIDA, Moradabad, Etawah etc. He also served as Operational Chief while posted as SSP, Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh.
He has completed his Masters of Laws (LL.M.) from the Indian Law Institute, New Delhi with distinction. He had obtained PhD in Medicinal Chemistry before joining police service, and later again in the field of Law from TISS, Mumbai. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Science degree from the Gujarat Forensic Science University, Gandhinagar on the issues of Administration of Justice in cases of Child Sexual Abuse. He has recently been selected for prestigious ‘Flex Award’ under the Fulbright Fellowship 2020-21.
The Hon’ble President of India has honoured him 2nd Bar by decorating three times with the Police Medal for Gallantry, the highest national award for Police. He is the recipient of the Police Medal for Meritorious Service conferred by the Hon’ble President of India. He is also proud recipient of the Gold Medal for Gallantry granted by His Excellency the Governor of Uttar Pradesh. He has authored a book by the title “Assisted Reproduction and Conflicts in Rights” in 2016 which has gathered remarkable response from esteem readers and academia at large across the globe. He has authored several book chapters and over two dozen articles, published in reputed national and international academic journals.
- Over the course of your experience in this field, what all type of cases have you dealt with?
“I am a serving member of the Indian Police Service for nearly 25 years and on deputation have proudly completed over 7 years in the Central Bureau of Investigation. I have been fortunate to have supervised variety of cases of murder, rape, murder after rape, dacoity, burglary and Anti-corruption; and during this journey have used a plethora of forensic evidences. Apart from that, in my UNODC stint of two years, I had an opportunity to learn variety of methodologies to deal with organised crimes in different parts of the world. In totality, this provided me with opportunities to work on a range of criminal cases including blind and cold incidents.”
- What inspired you to join this field, and most importantly what is motivating you to stick with it?
“When I cleared UPSC, I was offered my home cadre so I was very contented. I frankly admit that I love Police work and can proudly say that if there is any truth in reincarnation, in each of my rebirth, I want to be a cop. My reason for this is very simple- the police is one organisation that has the mandate to provides immediate grievance redressal and do justice without delay. If you go to court, it takes a lot of time, huge investment and requires long lasting patience. But if police personnel genuinely want, they can do wonders for the society. I am very happy to be part of the police system which maintains peace and tranquility in the society. We as policemen have to work round the clock spending sleepless nights but I am happy to do so if under my jurisdiction, people can have peaceful sleep at night.”
- We know that with time crimes have evolved in many ways, how has the investigation procedures evolved with that?
“This question is very relevant to modern times. The role of the police is to prevent the commission of crime and in case a crime has been committed, the prime task is to detect the criminals. Human identification, in many ways, remains focal theme of the investigation. Advancement in technologies have made criminals smarter, posing challenge before police to connect crime with criminals beyond reasonable doubt. On the other hand, a lot of new techniques, especially in forensic evidence, have also evolved helping police to detect crime. In 1997, when I joined police, DNA was in its nascent stage. If I remember correctly, in Varanasi district, in the Diana C. Routley murder case, a young lady from New Zealand was murdered and buried by a villager. She was an innocent 21-year-old tourist, who was taken by a rickshaw puller to his village in district Gazipur, and there probably she was gang raped before murder although this fact never came in the investigation. During investigation, it was revealed that the girl was killed and buried in a room and floor was constructed over the site. After four-five months, the police dug out the body remains. When the investigation was on the verge of conclusion, at that time I joined Varanasi police as the ASP, so I got to supervise the case and see it through the last stage. To identify the bones that were dug out, we had used multiple forensic techniques like dental superimposition, we procured dental records back from her country. DNA fingerprinting was also conducted, first time in Uttar Pradesh. Hon’ble Supreme Court [Dharma Deo Yadav v. State of Uttar Pradesh (2014) 5 SCC 509], in this case, commuted the death penalty to life imprisonment to the perpetrator.
Despite the fact that use of forensic evidence varies widely, but the problem remains that if we see the global scenario, India is much behind. The number of crimes is too high and investigators are over-burdened. Further, police are not divided into branches of investigating and law & order. Thus, one policeman has a dual role, where he/she conducts an investigation and also has the duty to maintain the law & order. We do not have a team specialised in the investigation of a particular type of crime, the same person may investigate road accident, murder, robbery or petty offences. In my view, the time has come for India that specialised teams for investigation must be developed. If I compare police investigation with the Central Bureau of Investigation, I find that in CBI we have more specialised units, and an investigator has more experience in a particular field. I think this model should be replicated in the state police units. Further, the last point I would like to add is that earlier crime was localised, now the time has changed its dimensions especially in the era of digital technology, so the role of digital forensics has become very important in detection of crime. In almost every crime, you can find out digital footprints to link crime and criminals. The use of forensic tools such as DNA technology, voice sampling, digital forensics should be used extensively to corroborate with oral testimony of a victim or other eye-witnesses.”
- With new advancements in technologies every now and then, how advanced are our labs?
“The problem in India is multifold, first, we have a lesser forensic facility and more demand. Consequently, the investigating officers do not pursue the collection of evidence and even if they do so, in many cases, they do not send them for expert opinion. Investigators have to wait for expert opinion for several months and sometimes even years. Many times, on the pretext of shortage of manpower or overburden of work, the forensic samples are not even being received in the forensic laboratories. Delayed reporting is the major cause for avoiding use of expert opinion by the police, in addition to the fact that police is not well trained and aware of possible use of corroboration by forensic inputs. Indeed, we must have some auditing system for of men and machines. For each forensic equipment one must know its capacity to produce reports in specified time. Similar exercise must be done for each expert. I strongly believe with my experience that our existing forensic facilities are under-utilized. Further, we should compute our requirement based on number of samples, accordingly we should augment forensic facilities in India. Police modernization fund may be utilized for this purpose. Forensic experts should be trained periodically because technology is evolving. Police also need to be trained for forensic evidence, and so are the other stakeholders of criminal justice system. Periodic training to enhance professionalism are the requirements of the day.”
- While getting a new case, what exactly are the requirements you have from the police officers?
“Every case has its own uniqueness. We can categorize heinous crimes into murder, rape, dacoity etc. Standard Operating Procedures for collection of evidence for each odious crime must be construed, and updated periodically to incorporate new advancements. These SOPs may help investigator to conduct fair and scientific investigation, that may further facilitate speedy trial. More so, number of investigators must be increased by recruiting policemen at different ranks. Excessive workload compromise quality of investigation.”
- How important is it for a forensic officer to visit a crime scene?
“It depends on circumstances and nature of crime. In most of the districts, we have field units. We should understand that forensic expert working in the lab is a different person and the person who is assisting the police officer on the crime scene. Sometimes in critical cases of CBI, while visiting the scene of crime, we request a battery of forensic experts to accompany us. But it is not possible in every case. It is neither desired nor required. For the ease of understanding, forensic work may be divided into two segments, one is sample collection from the scene of the crime, and secondly, analysis in the diagnostic center. A team of forensic experts is called a field unit and the mobile forensic vans are also available in the districts. But these experts serving in field units or mobile forensic vans are not required to be at the same level of expertise as scientists working in the laboratories. They are trained to trace, to collect, to package and to transport the samples to the laboratory. This set of officers may be police officers or depending on the resources of the state they may be trained forensic experts. But if trained experts are not available even police personnel can be trained to serve this purpose. The field units must be provided kits for the purpose of collecting samples. The chain of custody should be well maintained at every stage till reporting in order to protect sanctity of the forensic samples. In laboratories, on the other hand, we should have well trained, educated and experienced experts. The Apex Court, in Rajiv Singh v. State of Bihar [2015 (13) SCALE 901 : (2015) 16 SCC 369], has explicitly detailed various facets of an expert under sections 45 of the Indian Evidence Act and 293 of Cr.P.C.”
- As we are aware of the movement for including at least one forensic investigator in every police station, what are your views on that? How necessary is that measure at this point?
“Considering resource constraints in India, it may not be necessary, though ideally it looks resounding. Considering nature and quantum of crime, we can place forensic experts as field unit at district level. Indeed, emphasis must be given to strengthen mobile forensic vans with well trained staff. These vans can move from one place to another as and when required. So rather than placing forensic experts in each police station, I believe the mobile van system must be augmented.”
- We heard the news about the upcoming National Forensic Science Institute, as a result of which in 10 years the number of forensic graduates will be doubled. How do you think India’s preparedness for this?
“We do not have a shortage of trained forensic experts; you can say the graduate or post-graduate students. My take is that we should have a proper arrangement for employment too along with on job training. I come across various promising students with bachelors and post-graduate degree in forensics, but they do not have the requisite experience. There should be a composite plan on how to provide them education with experience. Whenever there is a vacancy, there is a prerequisite that the candidate must be a graduate/post graduate with specified period of experience. But where will they get that experience? When I was the director at the CBI Academy, top executives of an international forensic science university had visited our academy in Ghaziabad. During interaction, they replied that we do not ask for any experience, we either take post-graduates or PhD scholars depending upon our requirement. Once we recruit the candidate then we provide them with the training. I opined that every newly recruited forensic expert, after requisite institutional training, must be attached to a principal expert as an assistant expert. Once he gains experience as assistant expert, say 100 cases or 200 cases, then only he may be promoted as a full-fledged principal expert. We can compensate for the experience requirement with the help of this model. Rather than asking for an experience, we should go for better-educated persons and then train them as per desired need. In current scenario of recruitment with prior experience, already employed expert can only apply, consequently expert changes his place of work of his choice by shifting to another lab, and new blood does not get chance for induction, resulting in frustration among budding scientists. We have to overhaul our recruitment rules, if we are really willing to enhance our forensic capabilities.”
- Sir in your opinion what should be the selection criteria and education qualification of fresher?
“Again, there cannot be a rule of thumb. It depends on the recruitment rules and field requirements. Depending upon the method of work, someplace might need an assistant, at another place they might require a full-fledged expert. They may require a graduate or a post-graduate, some assignment might even require a PhD. There are two legal requirements for qualifying as an expert, firstly, educational qualification and secondly, domain experience. Education should be practical oriented. I come across people, brilliant chaps but they do not have any experience, they only have a degree. One more important thing is when budding forensic students are doing theoretical courses, the institutions must provide them workable inputs on the law. Reason is simple; the forensic science is an admixture of various sciences and legal doctrines. The courtroom is the litmus test for an expert opinion, and expert is to defend his report during trial by deposing his testimony and to face cross-examination. I suggest that forensic institution must tie up with law schools and students must interact with each other to know fine nuances of other’s disciplines. Forensic sciences institutions must be equipped with moot courts, so that students must be given inputs on the court proceedings and legal procedures. Likewise, law students must be given inputs in the fields of forensic sciences. This exchange model may help to promote scientific temper into investigation and the criminal justice system. Our judicial officers must also insist on the collection of forensic evidence and not just go along with what the police is providing them as outcome of investigation. Police as well as prosecution or defence lawyers, are all “officers to help court in pursuit of truth”. Truth is the quintessence of justice; and fair investigation is the precursor for fair trial in order to find truth. This philosophy needs to be promoted”
- In your opinion, do pure science students have an upper hand over students who have been studying Forensics for more than 5 years.
“Suppose a person has a physics, chemistry or mathematics background, how can you expect him/her to have an upper hand over a trained forensic expert who has done graduation or masters in Forensic Sciences. A person who is trained in forensic sciences will be more equipped than student trained in other discipline. Another important point I would like to make is that forensic experts must have relevant knowledge of the case laws. For instance, if you are DNA expert, you should know the latest judgments of the constitutional courts on this subject. These case laws should be taught in the institutions also during degree courses, and similarly, law students should be exposed to the cases related to the field of forensics. I consider a judgment as ‘live law’ compared to the statute, which has complex legal language to understand. An expert must follow the court proceedings and must know ultimate fate of his expert opinion. This exercise will provide an opportunity to an expert to understand the strength and weakness of the expert report, and to further improve his domain knowledge.”
- What was the case you found most challenging to be solved?
“There has been plethora of challenging cases in my entire career, as senior police officer. I mentioned earlier the Diana murder case, which was successfully solved by using DNA and other techniques. In CBI, I have supervised the Unnao rape case that was also a glaring case in public view. In Anti-corruption I have a series of cases to mention but since I have worked there, ethically cannot disclose the details. Every criminal case is unique and a learning opportunity, it gives you a lot of insights and understanding as police officer. The focal point remains that if you have the desire to find out the truth, then forensic evidence, corroboration and scientific temper are the hallmarks for fair investigation.”
- How has the lockdown and the ongoing pandemic made the job of law enforcement officers difficult?
“COVID-19 has brought out an additional responsibility of the police, they are the frontline warriors to combat the ongoing global pandemic. The police have shouldered this task as primary responsibility, consequently, priority for investigation took a back seat. The agencies like CBI and other central law enforcing agencies do not have to perform special duties during the pandemic, so they have been doing their part in the investigation. However, due to restrictions on movement and transport, the pace of the investigation has gone down. It is now picking up and, I wish, will attain the desired pace in near future. The court proceedings are also restricted due to COVID, but the CBI is doing its best, and recent judgment of July 2020 awarding life imprisonment to 11 accused in Raja Man Singh Murder case of 1985 is glaring example of sincerity of the trial court and the CBI.”
