Forensic Science

MEDICO-LEGAL REPORTS
UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF LEGAL STUDIES
MEDICO-LEGAL
REPORTS
Submitted by:-
Submitted to:-
Dr. Ajay Ranga

Dishant Mittal
Assistant Professor, Uils, 130/15 (13754)
Panjab University. Section C
B.com L.L.B
FORENSIC SCIENCE Page 1

SUPERVISOR’S CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the work incorporated in the project report titled ― “MEDICO LEGAL
REPORTS” submitted by Dishant Mittal, (130/15) in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the
award of internal assessment in the subject of Forensic Science to University Institute of Legal
Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh is a record of the candidate’s own work carried out by
him under my guidance and supervision. To the best of my knowledge and belief the project
report:
1. Embodies the work of the candidate herself,
2. Has duly been completed,
3. Is up to the desired standard both in respect of contents and language for being referred to the
examiners.
Dr. AJAY RANGA
Assistant Professor, Uils,
Panjab University,
Chandigarh.

STUDENT CERTIFICATE
I, the undersigned, hereby solemnly declare that the Project Report titled: “MEDICO LEGAL
REPORTS”, submitted to the University Institute of Legal Studies, Panjab University,
Chandigarh, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of internal assessment in the
subject of Forensic Science, is an original and bonafide research work of mine and has been done
under the supervision of Dr. Ajay Ranga (Asst. Professor), University Institute of Legal Studies,
Panjab University, Chandigarh. The project has not been submitted anywhere else at any time
and all the information declared hereby is true to the best of my knowledge.
Place: Chandigarh
Dishant Mittal
130/15

Acknowledgement
Success is a blend of multiple efforts. The final import of this project is also a
result of the sheer hard work and constant support of many people. I would like to
take this opportunity to thank all of them.
To begin with, I would like to express my humble gratitude to my teacher, DR.

AJAY RANGA, for her able guidance and mentoring. The meticulous manner in
which she teaches has paid significantly in the completion of this project.
Secondly, I would like to thank my department, University Institute of Legal

Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh, for providing such an expansive library
which provided me all the relevant material required for this project.
Last but not the least, I would like to express my profound gratitude to my
parents and my friends who have constantly supported and motivated me
throughout this project.
Dishant Mittal

Table of Contents
SUPERVISOR’S CERTIFICATE...................................................................................................2
STUDENT CERTIFICATE.............................................................................................................3
Acknowledgement...........................................................................................................................4
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................5
INTRODUCTION: FORENSIC SCIENCE....................................................................................6
MEDICO-LEGAL REPORTS.........................................................................................................7
Types of medico-legal reports:....................................................................................................7
Format for a medico-legal report.....................................................................................................8
Sample Report.................................................................................................................................9
Procedure to admit Medico-Legal reports before court.................................................................10
Reasons to form Medico-Legal reports.........................................................................................12
Obligations on treating Doctor while preparing Medico-Legal report..........................................13
Professional obligations.............................................................................................................13
Legal obligations.......................................................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................15
BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION: FORENSIC SCIENCE

Forensic science, also known as criminalistics. It is the application
of science to criminal and civil laws. Mainly on the criminal side during criminal investigation,
as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal procedure.
Forensic medicine is a branch of science; which deals with the application of medical knowledge
to aid in the administration of justice. Forensic science is the application of medical knowledge,
scientific knowledge and technical aspects to solve the crime and to aid in justice.
Forensic scientists collect, preserve, and analyze scientific evidence during the course of an

investigation. While some forensic scientists travel to the scene of the crime to collect the
evidence themselves, others occupy a laboratory role, performing analysis on objects brought to
them by other individuals1.
Forensic Science Laboratories are multi-disciplinary system, well equipped with extremely
specialized and rationalized infrastructure of international standards. It is competent of carrying
out any challenging scientific work related to crime. The directorate analyses various criminal
cases under different laws like I.P.C., Cr.P.C, Indian Arms Act, NDPS Act, Explosive
Substances Act, Petroleum Act, Mumbai Police Act, Essential Commodities Act, Bombay
Prohibition Act, Motor Vehicle Act, I.T.Act, Wild Life Protection Act, TADA, MCOCA etc and
Forensic evidence is also used to link crimes that are thought to be related to one another. For
example, DNA evidence can link one offender to several different crimes or crime scenes (or
exonerate the accuse d).Linking crimes help law enforcement authorities to narrow the range of
possible suspects and to establish patterns of for crimes, which are useful in identifying and
prosecuting suspects. Forensic scientists also work on developing new techniques and procedures
for the collection and analysis of evidence. In this manner, new technology can be used and
refined not only to keep forensic scientist on the cutting edge of science, but to maintain the
highest standards of quality and accuracy.
1
K.S. Narayan Reddy, Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology (Law Practice and Procedure) (ALT Publications,
2006)

Medico legal reports are the documents prepared by the medical officers in the role of a medical
expert witness in a legal case in obedience to a demand by an authorised police officer or a
Magistrate and are chiefly referred to in criminal cases relating to assault, rape murder, and
poisoning accidents. These reports consist of three parts, namely:-
1. Introductory or preliminary data, for example full name, age, address, date, place and
time of examination, including identity marks;
2. the facts observed on the examination; and
3. the opinion or the inference drawn from the facts2.
Types of medico-legal reports:

A request for a treating doctor to prepare a report for legal purposes may be received from:
a) a patient
b) a solicitor
c) an insurer
d) a statutory authority (eg WorkCover)
e) an employer
f) the police
g) a court.
2
K. Kannan and K. Mathiharan, Textbook of Modis Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology (Buttersworths India,
2012)

Format for a medico-legal report

In the report, it is useful to include headings and, if the report is long, numbered paragraphs. A
suggested format for a medico-legal report is as follows:
a) patient’s name and date of birth
b) requesting party’s name, date of the request and purpose of the report
c) your credentials, including professional address, qualifications, experience and position at
the time you were involved in the patient’s management
d) medical facts in chronological order:
– presentation (history and symptoms)
– examination findings
– investigations
– provisional diagnosis
– treatment/management
– current condition
e) response to questions (if any)
f) your opinion (if appropriate)
g) signature and date of the report.
The extent of the medical information included in the report will be dependent on the nature of
the report and is a matter of clinical judgement. Information that is not relevant to the report need
not be included but relevant matters must not be omitted (eg a pre-existing history of back pain
should be disclosed in a workers compensation claim for a back injury).

Sample Report
1. On 1 February 2018 I was contacted by Constable Smith and asked to provide a statement in
relation to the care of Jane Doe. Consent for the report was provided by Ms Doe.
2. In preparing this statement, I have referred to the medical records from a consultation with
Ms Doe on 1 December 2017. I have a good recollection of the events discussed in this statement
and have refreshed my recollection by referring to the medical records.
3. I am a registered medical practitioner. I obtained my medical qualifications, MBBS, following

completion of my degree at Bland University in 2016.
4. At the time of seeing Ms Doe, I was employed by the Royal Big Hospital (RBH) as an intern.
I have been employed in this capacity since January 2017.
5. On 1 December 2017 I was working in the Emergency Department of RBH, commencing at

2.00pm. At approximately 5.00pm I examined a female patient who identified herself as Jane
Doe.
6. When asked what happened, Ms Doe stated her husband had punched her in the face. She had
not lost consciousness.
7. On examination, I noted the patient was tender under her left eye (infraorbital margin) and
cheek bone (zygoma), with widespread fine bruising (petechiae). The patient was fully
conscious. There was blood inside her left eye, in front of the iris (hyphaema), with markedly
decreased visual acuity (V/A).
8. I ordered an x-ray of the facial bones. The x-ray did not reveal any fractures.
9. As a result of my examination and investigations, I am able to state that the following injuries
were present: hyphaema of the left eye (blood inside the eye) with decreased vision in the left
eye; bruising of the left zygoma (cheekbone) with no fracture on x-ray.
10. I referred the patient to a specialist Ophthalmologist for ongoing care and follow-up. I had no
further contact with the patient. I am unaware of the expected prognosis.

Procedure to admit Medico-Legal reports before court

In India, we have adversarial system of justice administration and ordinarily medical evidence is
admitted only when the expert gives an oral evidence under oath in the courts of law expect
under special circumstances like:
a) When evidence has already been admitted in a lower court;
b) Expert opinions expressed in a treatise;
c) Evidence given in a previous judicial proceeding;
d) Expert can not be called as witness;
e) Hospital records like admission/discharge register, birth/death certificates etc.
In order that they may be admitted as exhibits in evidence, these reports should be written by the
medical officer at the time of the examination or immediately afterwards. They form the chief
documents in judicial inquiries and likely to pass from the lower to higher courts, as well as to be
placed in the hands of pleaders. Hence, utmost care should be used in preparing them. No
exaggerated terms, superlatives, or epithets expressing one's feelings should be used; they should
not be judgmental. For instance, one should never say that 'extensive damage to the skull and
brain was the result of a particularly brutal, murderous assault, or the deceased was evidently
subjected to a particularly murderous attack in which throttling was also indulged in3.
After noting the facts accurately and in detail, the opinion should be expressed briefly and to the
point. The medical officer must remember that he should always base his opinion on the facts
observed by him and must not be influenced by the statements made by others. In drawing
conclusions in medico legal reports, he should not depend upon information derived from any
other source. However, if these opinions tally with the information supplied, he should so in his
report4.
3
http://www.legalserviceindia.com/article/l153-Forensic-Evidence.html.
4
“Evidence-based evidence: a practical method for Bayesian analysis of forensic evidence”, Law, Probability and
Risk, Volume 14, Issue 2, June 2015, Pages 135–145, https://doi.org/10.1093/lpr/mgu019

If it is not possible to form an opinion immediately after examining him, an injury case should be
kept under observation, and the fact notified to the police. A hasty opinion must not be formed,
even if pressed by the police.
A post-mortem or injury report must be proved by the examination in the court of the medical
officer who conducted the post-mortem or injury examination, unless the case falls under section
291 of CrPC, its genuineness has been admitted by the accused under section 294 of the CrPC.
Mere tender of the post-mortem report or injury report in evidence is not enough. The report of
the doctor must be filed in the court. The contents of the report contained in the affidavit of
another person are not admissible in evidence5.
5
K. Mathiharan and Amrit K Patnaik, Modi's Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology (LexisNexis, Buttersworth,
2010).

Reasons to form Medico-Legal reports

In medical practice, most of the doctors would come across which at the time or subsequently,
would be called a "medico-legal case" (MLC). An MLC is a case of injury/illness where the
attending doctor, after eliciting history and examining the patient, thinks that some investigation
by law enforcement agencies is essential to establish and fix responsibility for the case in
accordance with the law of the land6. It can also be defined as a case of injury or ailment, etc., in
which investigations by the law-enforcing agencies are essential to fix the responsibility
regarding the causation of the said injury or ailment. Cases that are to be treated as medicolegal
are: (1) All cases of injuries and burns - the circumstances of which suggest commission of an
offense by somebody (irrespective of suspicion of foul play); (2) all vehicular, factory, or other
unnatural accident cases specially when there is a likelihood of patient's death or grievous hurt;
(3) cases of suspected or evident sexual assault; (4) cases of suspected or evident criminal
abortion; (5) cases of unconsciousness where its cause is not natural or not clear; (6) all cases of
suspected or evident poisoning or intoxication; (7) cases referred from court or otherwise for age
estimation; (8) cases brought dead with improper history creating suspicion of an offense; (9)
cases of suspected self-infliction of injuries or attempted suicide; (10) any other case not falling
under the above categories but has legal implications7.
After examination of a medicolegal case, a medicolegal report should be issued. The reports
must be handed over to the police officials after getting them duly received on the duplicate copy
of the same. The records should be kept under lock and key, in the custody of the doctor
concerned or may be kept in the record room of hospitals, where such facility is available. There
is no specified time limit after which the medicolegal reports can be destroyed; hence, they have
to be preserved. In view of the multitude of cases against the doctors under the Consumer
Protection Act, it is advisable to preserve all the inpatient records for a period of at least 5 years
and outpatient department records for 3 years8.
6
Dogra TD, Rudra A. Lyon′s Medical Jurisprudence & Toxicology. 11 th ed. New Delhi: Delhi Law House; 2005.
p. 367
7
Mathiharan K, Patnaik AK. Modi′s Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology. 23 rd ed. New Delhi: LexisNexis
Butterworths; 2005. p. 350.
8
Singhal SK. Singhal′s the doctor and law. 1 st ed. Mumbai: MESH Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.; 1999. p. 137.

Obligations on treating Doctor while preparing Medico-Legal report

Professional obligations
A Code of Conduct for Doctors in India states that good medical practice involves:
a. being honest and not misleading when writing reports and certificates, and only signing
documents you believe to be accurate
b. taking reasonable steps to verify the content before you sign a report or certificate, and
not omitting relevant information deliberately
c. preparing or signing documents and reports, if you have agreed to do so, within a
reasonable and justifiable time frame
d. making clear the limits of your knowledge and not giving opinion beyond those limits
when providing evidence.
Legal obligations
A number of courts have an Expert Witness Code of Conduct, which a person must comply with
in order for their report and evidence to be admissible in court. These codes are applicable to a
medical expert who is providing an opinion at the request of one of the parties in the matter
before the court. In most cases, these doctors will be independent medical experts who have had
no direct involvement in the care of the patient.
On occasion, however, a treating doctor may be asked to provide a report and abide by the
Expert Witness Code of Conduct. If you are asked to abide by the Expert Witness Code of
Conduct, you should ask the requesting party to provide you with a copy of the relevant code,
and seek advice if you are unsure of your obligations. Requirements in an Expert Witness Code
of Conduct include:
a. Duty to the court

– An expert has an overriding duty to assist the court on matters relevant to the
expert’s area of expertise.
– An expert is not an advocate for a party.
b. Form of expert report – the report must include:
– the expert’s qualifications

– all material facts and assumptions on which the report is based

– the reasons for each opinion expressed
– if applicable, that a particular question or issue falls outside the expert’s area of
expertise
– references to any literature or other material relied on to support the opinion
– any examinations, tests or other investigations the expert has relied on, and details
of the person who carried them out
– acknowledgement of and agreement to abide by the code
– statement if the opinion is provisional because there is insufficient data or for any
other reason.
It is important to be aware that any opinions expressed in a medico-legal report will often come
under particular scrutiny by the reader of the report and may be publicly tested and challenged in
court. The weight given to the opinion will generally be dependent on the expertise and
experience of the author.
A treating doctor is not obliged to provide an opinion in a medico-legal report. Indeed, some
opinions may be beyond the expertise of the treating doctor. In these circumstances, it is
appropriate to decline to provide an opinion, and to provide factual information only. An
independent expert medical opinion may then be sought, based on the facts provided by the
treating doctor and/or the medical records.

Conclusion
There is a unanimity that medical and forensic evidence plays a crucial role in helping the courts
of law to arrive at logical conclusions. Therefore, the expert medical professionals should be
encouraged to undertake medico legal work and simultaneously the atmosphere in courts should
be congenial to the medical witness. This attains utmost importance looking at the outcome of
the case, since if good experts avoid court attendance, less objective professional will fill the gap,
ultimately affecting the justice. The need to involve more and more professionals in expert
testimony has been felt by different organizations. The American College of physician's
guidelines for the physician expert witness emphasizes on broad physician participation in
providing this much-needed assistance to the legal system. The college believes that more
doctors should serve as experts as a component of their professional activities in order to meet
the need for medical testimony
This objective of greater expert participation can only be achieved by addressing to the
apprehensions that ponder the mind of medical professionals. In the light of new developments
in the forensic science, the home ministry, Govt. of India constituted a committee under the
chairmanship of Dr. Justice V.S Malimath to suggest reforms in the criminal justice system. This
committee suggested comprehensive use of forensic science in crime investigation. According to
the committee DNA experts should be included in the list of experts given in section 293(4) of
Cr.P.C, 1973

BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
1.) K. Kannan and K. Mathiharan, Textbook of Modis Medical Jurisprudence and

Toxicology (Buttersworths India, 2012).
2.) K. Mathiharan and Amrit K Patnaik, Modi's Medical Jurisprudence and
Toxicology (LexisNexis, Buttersworth, 2010).
3.) K.S. Narayan Reddy, Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology (Law Practice
and Procedure) (ALT Publications, 2006)
Websites
1.) “Evidence-based evidence: a practical method for Bayesian analysis of

forensic evidence”, Law, Probability and Risk, Volume 14, Issue 2, June 2015,
Pages 135–145, https://doi.org/10.1093/lpr/mgu019
2.) Murphy, Erin. “The New Forensics: Criminal Justice, False Certainty, and the
Second Generation of Scientific Evidence.” California Law Review, vol. 95,
no. 3, 2007, pp. 721–797 available at www.jstor.org/stable/20439109.

Forensic Science

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MEDICO-LEGAL REPORTS

UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF LEGAL STUDIES

Dr. Ajay Ranga

Assistant Professor, Uils, 130/15 (13754)

Panjab University. Section C

FORENSIC SCIENCE Page 1

1. Embodies the work of the candidate herself,

2. Has duly been completed,

Dr. AJAY RANGA

Assistant Professor, Uils,

FORENSIC SCIENCE Page 2

FORENSIC SCIENCE Page 3

To begin with, I would like to express my humble gratitude to my teacher, DR.

Secondly, I would like to thank my department, University Institute of Legal

FORENSIC SCIENCE Page 4

INTRODUCTION: FORENSIC SCIENCE....................................................................................6

Types of medico-legal reports:....................................................................................................7

Format for a medico-legal report.....................................................................................................8

Procedure to admit Medico-Legal reports before court.................................................................10

Reasons to form Medico-Legal reports.........................................................................................12

Obligations on treating Doctor while preparing Medico-Legal report..........................................13

FORENSIC SCIENCE Page 5

INTRODUCTION: FORENSIC SCIENCE

Forensic scientists collect, preserve, and analyze scientific evidence during the course of an

FORENSIC SCIENCE Page 6

Types of medico-legal reports:

FORENSIC SCIENCE Page 7

Format for a medico-legal report

FORENSIC SCIENCE Page 8

3. I am a registered medical practitioner. I obtained my medical qualifications, MBBS, following

5. On 1 December 2017 I was working in the Emergency Department of RBH, commencing at

FORENSIC SCIENCE Page 9

Procedure to admit Medico-Legal reports before court

a) When evidence has already been admitted in a lower court;

b) Expert opinions expressed in a treatise;

c) Evidence given in a previous judicial proceeding;

d) Expert can not be called as witness;

e) Hospital records like admission/discharge register, birth/death certificates etc.

FORENSIC SCIENCE Page 10

FORENSIC SCIENCE Page 11

Reasons to form Medico-Legal reports

FORENSIC SCIENCE Page 12

Obligations on treating Doctor while preparing Medico-Legal report

a. Duty to the court

FORENSIC SCIENCE Page 13

– all material facts and assumptions on which the report is based

FORENSIC SCIENCE Page 14

FORENSIC SCIENCE Page 15

1.) K. Kannan and K. Mathiharan, Textbook of Modis Medical Jurisprudence and

1.) “Evidence-based evidence: a practical method for Bayesian analysis of

FORENSIC SCIENCE Page 16

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