Forensic Science and Physical Evidence Questions and Answers

Answer: C

The L.N.J.P. National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science in New Delhi was established in 1972. It was set up as an institute for training and research in criminology and forensic science and is now under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The years 1968, 1970 and 1974 are nearby dates offered as distractors and do not match the establishment of the institute. It is the main national training and research centre for forensic science in the country and is named after Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan.

Answer: C

A magistrate's inquest is held for exhumation (the Magistrate supervises the digging up of a buried body) and for a death in prison or other custody, where the police cannot be trusted to inquire into their own conduct. So (c) and (d) are correct. A death in a road accident and a death by drowning are ordinary unnatural deaths dealt with by a police inquest under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, so statements (a) and (b) do not belong, which rules out the options that contain them.

Answer: A

The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) is headquartered in New Delhi, at Mahipalpur, under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Lucknow, Chandigarh and Mumbai host other police and forensic institutions, such as state forensic laboratories and training colleges, but not the Bureau's headquarters, so those three options are wrong. The Bureau works on police modernisation, research and training for the whole country.

Answer: B

Both statements are correct. A specimen of the seal used on a packed exhibit is sent with it to the laboratory so that the examiner can compare it with the seal on the parcel and confirm that the packing was not opened on the way. That check is exactly what establishes the chain of custody, which makes the Reason a true explanation of the Assertion. The options calling either statement incorrect are therefore wrong.

Answer: B

The control (known) soil sample is taken from a spot close to the questioned soil, within about 3 to 4 inches of it, so that the two can be compared on a fair basis. A distance of 1 inch is too tight to give a sample that is independent of the questioned spot, and 8 inches or a foot are too far, since soil can change in colour and composition over a short distance. The 3 to 4 inches figure is the standard guidance followed in crime-scene practice.

Answer: A

The order of steps is: First Information Report (ii), protection of the scene of crime (iv), photography of the scene before anything is disturbed (iii), and finally collection and despatch of the evidence to the Forensic Science Laboratory (i). Evidence cannot be collected before the scene has been protected and photographed, so the options that put (i) early are wrong, and the scene cannot be photographed before it has been protected from disturbance.

Answer: B

The spiral method is a search pattern used to look for evidence, not a way of sketching the scene, so it is the exception. Sketching uses the rectangular (two-baseline) co-ordinate method, the triangulation method and the polar co-ordinate method, each of which fixes the position of an object by measurements from fixed reference points. Hence the spiral method is the odd one out and the other three are genuine sketching methods.

Answer: A

DNA is the best example of individual evidence, since a full DNA profile can identify a single person (apart from identical twins) with a very high degree of certainty. Blood, paint and soil are normally class evidence: they can be placed in a group of possible sources but not tied to just one, unless a physical match is shown. So DNA is the answer, and the other three are class characteristics.

Answer: D

A lie detector (polygraph) records several physiological responses at the same time: the pulse rate, the blood pressure, the respiration and the galvanic skin resistance. All of the parameters named are measured, so the answer is 'All of the above'.

Answer: D

Teaching of forensic science in India began at the University at Sagar (now Dr. Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya), in Madhya Pradesh, so option D is right. Kolkata, Bangalore and Patiala are all well known for forensic laboratories, institutes or police training, but the first university teaching programme in the subject was not started there, which is why those three are wrong even though each has a link with forensic work.