QUESTIONED DOCUMENTS

Questioned Documents is a branch of Forensic Science which deals with the examination of suspected documents. It examines all kinds of documents whose authenticity is in question. Unlike any other branch of Forensics which use the principles and techniques of pure sciences it has developed on its own.  For the first time in history ‘Questioned Documents’ was studied and discussed in the book written by Albert S. Osborn in the year 1910.  He is also known as the father of ‘Questioned Documents’ .

What is a Questioned Document?

A questioned document is a document whose authenticity is in question, which is suspected to be not true to its origin.  A document is contested on many grounds like when its origin is questioned, when its production method is questioned, when a part of it is under question. Such documents are also known as disputed documents. Some questioned documents are produced fraudulently to gain easy benefits, to deceive people these documents are known as forged documents. Such documents are sent to the forensic laboratories for the examination. Every FSL is well equipped with needed instruments for such examinations and it is specifically performed in ‘Questioned Documents’ unit.

When we talk about Questioned documents we must know what exactly a ‘Document’ is? Anything which bears marks , special signs or symbols which can convey some special meaning is a document. It could be a wall having some kind of message written on it found on a crime scene, a suicide note, handwritten notes, ransom note, personal diary, counterfeit currency, seals and stamps, wills, cheques. Basically it covers everything which can potentially decipher that special meaning.

Section 3 of Indian Evidence Act (I), 1872 defines documents. So, in legal terms it can be defined as – “Document means any matter expressed or described upon any substance by means of letters, figures or marks or by more than one of those means, intended to be used or which may be used for purpose or recording that matter.”  It also implies that the writing or symbols present in a document are not just restricted to a paper it could be any kind of surface and still it would come under the category of  a document.

The examination of such documents are done by Forensic Document Examiners (FDEs). Generally an FDE is required to perform examination in the cases of handwriting comparisons, signature comparisons, altered and obliterated documents. FDEs are also asked to give ‘Expert Testimony’ in the court of law when summoned.

APPLICATIONS OF FORENSIC DOCUMENT EXAMINATION

The forensic Document Examination plays a crucial role in both civil and crime cases. Questioned documents are mostly contested on the grounds of authorship of the document, or to find the writer to the anonymous letter found from the crime scene, to find the genuine or fake handwriting/signatures.

• Handwriting Analysis/signature analysis– an expert forensic document examiner can easily give opinion about the true or fake handwriting by examination as handwriting is unique to everyone and changes progressively with time (being a neuro muscular task) provided, if adequate samples are present.
• Printer Examination- a proficient FDE can reveal the type of printer by examining the type of printing technology used in that particular printed document which can help to reach out the particular printer which was used to produced that ‘questioned document’.
• Ink Analysis- Often questioned documents are examined to reveal the type of ink used in the document. Methods like thin layer chromatography are highly useful in this respect.
• Detection of Alterations/obliterations- Sometimes a document is altered or modified to its already written terms or it is seen that some extra line (interlineation) is added to change its original meaning. Such documents are known as altered documents. Generally these things are observed in wills. Many times chemical erasures are also used to erase a particular segment of the document. Such things are examined and observed carefully by an expert using instruments like VSC (video Spectral Comparator).
• Indentations examination – Indentations are the impression left behind on a paper or a notebook while writing. Instruments like EDD (Electrostatic Detection Device) are highly useful for deciphering indentations.