According to a Supreme Court ruling, DNA tests can only be treated as corroborative evidence and in cases where a negative test result favours the accused, the weight of other materials and evidence on record will still have to be considered for corroboration.
Dismissing the petition by a 43-year-old bus conductor accused of raping and impregnating a 12-year-old relative seeking quashing of the case after a DNA test showed that his blood sample and that of the foetus did not match, the Karnataka High Court ruled that non-matching DNA samples would not absolve a crime accused since it is only collaborative evidence.
The accused, a resident of Mysuru, was charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC) based on a complaint filed by the mother of the victim on February 19, 2021.
The bus conductor is alleged to have sexually abused the girl due to which she became pregnant. The police filed a charge-sheet in the case while the report of the DNA test was still pending. When the report came, it showed that the blood sample of the accused and the foetus did not match.
Based on the negative test, the accused approached the court requesting a quashing of the case against him, contending that he was not responsible for the victim becoming pregnant. However, rejecting his contestation, Justice M Nagaprasanna held that despite the DNA analysis showing that the accused was not the biological father of the foetus, “that would not absolve the petitioner in entirety for the offences so alleged.’
The government advocate had contended that the girl had given a statement that the accused had sexually assaulted her and, therefore, notwithstanding the negative DNA report, the trial had to continue.
Against this backdrop, the court opined that “the alleged act has not at all happened cannot be the inference that can be drawn due to a DNA sample coming in favour of the petitioner. Mere production of DNA sample report before this court would not mean that it has to be taken as gospel truth without examination or cross-examination of the doctor who has rendered such opinion.”
After quoting the statement of the victim-girl given to the court, the High Court said, “They are all unpardonable acts on the part of the petitioner unless proved otherwise. The DNA test cannot discredit what the victim has narrated in her statement that the petitioner had forcibly committed sexual acts on her.”
“The DNA test cannot be said to be conclusive evidence with regard to the allegations made against the petitioner. The DNA test can at best be used as corroborative evidence," the Bench noted.
Further, quoting the Supreme Court verdict in the Sunil Vs State of Madhya Pradesh case, the High Court said, “If a positive result of the DNA comes about against the accused, it would constitute clinching evidence against him for further proceedings. If the result is negative, favouring the accused, then the weight of other materials and evidence on record will still have to be considered for corroboration."
"Therefore, it does not form such clinching evidence that would result in termination of proceedings against the accused,” the Bench reiterated.
(With inputs from PTI)