DNA - Supreme Court e@journal

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DNA - Test - Plaintiff is claiming her right in the property in dispute, being the daughter/LR of Rai Sahab s/o Shishpal, whereas the defendants have stoutly denied her claim and pleaded themselves to be his LRs. - Thus, the grand parents of plaintiff and defendant Nos.2 to 4 are common - The blood relationship between the indicated parties, inter-alia, J.) would be a moot point to be decided after receiving the evidence of the parties during the course of trial by the trial Court - In that eventuality, in order to prove their relationship, the scientific DNA Test is very much essential to arrive at the truth and to decide the real controversy between them to effectively adjudicate the present suit. (174) PLR
DNA - Conducting the DNA test should be allowed so that a child who claims himself to be natural son of a particular person is able to conclusively either prove or disprove the fact because by passage of time, scientific methods have evolved to such an extent that it is now possible to conclusively determine the actual parentage of a child. (177) PLR
DNA - DNA test which is a scientific one ought not to be resorted to in all cases - That it is a scientific test and the result is bound to be close to 100% admits of no doubt at all but when Courts make intervention, it ought to be convinced that there is a very strong prima facie case for an application before it orders DNA test. (180) PLR
DNA - Paternity can be proved or disapproved conclusively with DNA Test - When there is serious breach of trust and honesty with regard to birth of a child then the fundamental question of awareness arises - It does not matter that some one is going to lose, certainly the DNA test for establishing the paternity is a necessity - Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872) Section 112. (174) PLR
DNA - Test - If the attempt is to bastardize, the Court will throw a ring of extraordinary circumspection and ensure that proof of non-access was clearly available before order was passed - Consequently, if there was a proof of access and if the person was seeking for a DNA test to be carried out, the Court will allow for such a test because it would come to help a person to clear a slur which he carries on his shoulder.(180) PLR
DNA - Will - Proof of paternity - Plaintiff has been able to make out a strong prima facie case in his favour to show that he is the natural born son of defendant no.1 for the purpose of conducting the DNA test - Admittedly A has died and S.K. who appeared in the witness box was also born from the wedlock of D with A - There is no dispute regarding the parentage of S - Since the blood samples of father matches with the DNA profile of his children to the extent of 50%, therefore, for the purpose of conclusively proving the fact that plaintiff was born out of the wedlock of D with A - Sample of S would be very important because from S, DNA profile can also be taken for the purpose of ascertaining the paternity of plaintiff. (177) PLR
DNA test - Non-conducting of - Though a DNA test would have helped the Courts immensely in determining the reliability of the identification of the body of the deceased, in the presence of other reliable evidence on record in favour of the prosecution version on this aspect, we reject the contention that the non-conducting of a DNA test and the reliance on evidence regarding identification through superimposition is improper - This is all the more true since no material is forthcoming to the effect that the parents of the deceased were alive during the relevant period, so as to conduct comparative DNA tests- Criminal Trial - IPC, S. 302, 364 and 201. 2019 SCeJournal 471
DNA test and Superimposition test - Evidence Act, Section 45 - Expert witness - Opinion evidence - One cannot lose sight of the fact that DNA evidence is also in the nature of opinion evidence as envisaged in Section 45 of the Indian Evidence Act - Undoubtedly, an expert giving evidence before the Court plays a crucial role, especially since the entire purpose and object of opinion evidence is to aid the Court in forming its opinion on questions concerning foreign law, science, art, etc., on which the Court might not have the technical expertise to form an opinion on its own - In criminal cases, such questions may pertain to aspects such as ballistics, fingerprint matching, handwriting comparison, and even DNA testing or superimposition techniques, as seen in the instant case - Like all other opinion evidence, the probative value accorded to DNA evidence also varies from case to case, depending on facts and circumstances and the weight accorded to other evidence on record, whether contrary or corroborative - This is all the more important to remember, given that even though the accuracy of DNA evidence may be increasing with the advancement of science and technology with every passing day, thereby making it more and more reliable, we have not yet reached a juncture where it may be said to be infallible - Thus, it cannot be said that the absence of DNA evidence would lead to an adverse inference against a party, especially in the presence of other cogent and reliable evidence on record in favour of such party - Criminal Trial - IPC, S. 302, 364 and 201. 2019 SCeJournal 471