LAHORE: The Punjab government is all set to have the Qanoon-i-Shahadat amended to make scientific evidence, including DNA reports, admissible for convictions in criminal cases, official sources informed Dawn on Saturday.

At present the Qanoon-i-Shahadat (the law of evidence) does not provide for this. The apex court has also declared that DNA cannot be considered the sole admissible evidence for convictions.

According to official sources on Saturday, the provincial government had in the past attempted to provide in the Qanoon-i-Shahadat the admissibility of scientific evidence, mainly DNA reports, as the sole evidence for convictions in criminal cases because they are irrefutable.

But the attempt was resisted by the law department on two grounds. One, the Qanoon-i-Shahadat was made by the federal government which the province could not amend. Second, scientific reports were mere expert opinions which could not be conclusive for conviction. Such reports should corroborate other evidence to create a chain of links the one end of which starts from the victim and the other goes to the neck of the accused.

Move to make DNA report admissible for convictions

Another opinion was that though the subject was concurrent the province could not make or amend any law of the field already occupied by the federal government.

The home department’s view is that the provincial government had spent billions on establishing a forensic science laboratory and engaging top most experts in the field to follow the world which is relying on irrefutable scientific evidence for convicting criminals.

Its official says the law is on the concurrent list of the Constitution and hence the province has all the rights to have it amended to ensure conviction of criminals who dodge human ability to detect their wrong doings.

“A number of anti-terrorism courts are already making convictions on scientific evidence including the DNA reports. The suspect in the Zainab case was arrested mainly on the basis of the DNA report. And the reports which reveal who the culprit of a crime is should be given weight accordingly,” a senior official said.

He said the home department was now sending the file of the draft law to the chief minister for his approval. After this the draft would be circulated for the final nod of the cabinet and tabling in the assembly for adoption, an official said who hoped to have the opinion of the law department overruled.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2018