Medico legal Injuries:a comprehensive approach

 Medico-legal Injuries: a comprehensive approach

Vijay Kumar Katiyar

Deputy Director, 

Judicial Training & Research Institute, UP,

Lucknow

Introduction:-

Medico-legal Injuries play a very pivotal role in dealing with criminal matters. If any Judge or Magistrate has no knowledge about medico-legal injuries then he can not appreciate scientific evidence in a proper manner. Even though Judges are not medical experts but they must have a basic understanding of injuries and their appreciation. This article is a serious effort in this direction by which judges and advocates can understand the basic notions in respect of medico-legal injuries. it is pertinent to mention here that my all articles are always based on a subaltern approach this article is also the based example of this approach by which we can try to make understand all notions and their appreciation in a very easy and simple manner. Our concentration is to discuss injuries in reference to Magistrate triable cases with special reference to mechanical injuries.

Kinds of injuries:- 

On the basis of gravity, we can classify injuries into three parts these areas below-

1. Simple Injury
2. Grievous Injury
3. Fatal Injury

The injuries mentioned above have been well defined in the Indian Penal Code like Sections 319, 320, 323,324,325, etc. In a simple term, we can say Injuries which is not related to a permanent bodily injury known as simple injury. If the injury is related to permanent bodily injury then such injury is known as grievous injury. If the injury is caused by any person in the vital part of the body and in such a nature it is likely to cause the death of the person to whom such injury has been caused by the same.

Classification of Medico-legal Injuries:-

Medico-legal injuries may be divided into four parts these areas below-

1. Mechanical Injuries
2. Thermal Injuries
3. Chemical Injuries
4. Electrical Injuries

Mechanical Injuries:-

The concern of this article is to deal with mechanical injuries. for the sake of convenience, mechanical injuries can also be sub-divided into four parts these areas below-

1. Bruise or Contusion:- 

         When any bodily injury has been caused by a hard and blunt object and without the burst of the skin the blood cells of the inner side of the body have been burst in its place, such injuries known as Bruises or Contusion. Due to this, the blood of the burst cells has been filled into the tissues situated around the injury it is resulting in swelling (Ecchymosis). The impact of the swelling occurs much more in the soft or tender part of the body or tissues compared with the hard part of the body or tissues,.

        Duration of injury can be identified easily if there is a normal body means a normal healthy body there are exceptions like if the body is suffering from any disease like diabetes, tuberculosis, etc. then changing of colors generally does not occur. But in the normal course, there is a formula for identifying the duration of the injury such method is known as VIBGYOR, this is the formula of light in physics you can modify this formal like this RVIBGYO, which means the color of bruise injury would be changed in two-two days such as first two days color of bruise injury would be Red, then after three to four day the color of bruise injury would be Violet, then after five to six-day the color of the injury would be Indigo, then after seven to eight-day color of the injury would be Blue, then after nine to ten-day color of the injury would be the Green then after eleven to twelve-day the color of the injury would be normal skin color. But it must be kept in mind if the injury is self-inflicted or is the result of any chemical or manipulation then the order of the color which has been mentioned above would not be changed accordingly. Such as thombophrbs (anti clotting cream) is an antiseptic medicine if it rubes in any part of the body and pulls with coins then it causes the injury but the color of this kind of injury never changed, the color would be fade only, which means that formula of RVIBGYO would not be applicable at all.

Medico legal conclusion:-

1. The size and shape of the bruise injuries reveal the object used in the crime and the severity of the injury.
2. How old is the bruise, this confirms the time of the incident.
3. From the location size of bruise injuries, it can be known whether it was caused during murder or attempted suicide or as a result of the accident.

How to make a distinction between natural & artificial injuries of a bruise or Contusion:-

     According to the appreciation of the injuries in the Court of law, we can bifurcate three kinds of the injuries like Suicidal or Self inflicted, Homicidal, and Accidental. Suicidal injuries are those injuries that are the result of manipulation which is self-inflicted injuries that are the result of other than natural or accidental injuries. you can easily identify these kinds of injuries if it is self-inflicted then such kind of injury would be found in those parts of the body where-where hands of a person reaches, if such kind of injury has been made by any other person then it always the result of the artificial produced, even it may be found at any parts of the body, but the colour of such injury would always be same. If the injury is the result of the accident, it may be found at any particular part of the body or you can say any particular side of the body, it may be the left side or the right side of the body, but most probably knee and elbow would also be injured. If the injury is Homicidal which means caused by any other person with lathi danda (Stick of wood) or a hard and blunt object, it may occur at any part of the body, but the colour would be changed according to the formula given above. It also inculcates in the mind that if the injury is homicidal in nature then always sign of struggle would always be present over the part of the hand, finger, etc, because it is human nature if any blow has been caused by lathi-danda (Stick of wood) or any hard or blunt object the injured would always to try to save himself from blows of lathi-danda (Stick of wood) and the sign of the struggle would always be present over the arms and their fingers in such kind of injury. My firm belief is that you can easily identify which injury is natural and which one is unnatural on the basis of the above analysis. For the sake of convenient distinction, the table is being given below-

Sr. No	Grounds of Injury	Real Injury	Artificial Injury
01	Reason	Occurs on the body by the blow of any article	Occurs from the coating of botanical stimulating chemicals and other chemicals
02	Place	At any part of the body	Usually, those parts of the body where-where its own reach of the person injured is possible
03	Size	Shape and edges were irregular	Shape irregular but edges are regular
04	Pain	Found on the Bruise injury	Also found around the bruise injury
05	Component	Blood	serum
06	Itching	Not Present	Present

  

2.  Abrasion:-         

     Abrasion is such kind of injury in which there is damage to the epidermal surface of the skin is called Abrasion, Such injuries come from falling on the road, scratching with nails, biting with teeth or rubbing barbed wire. Such injury is also considered to be simple in nature and goes immediately. 

             Types of abrasion may be Scratch abrasion, Sliding abrasion, Pressure abrasion and impact abrasion.

Medico legal conclusion:-

1. the nature of the injury becomes known
2. In some cases there may be signs of fights or struggle.
3. From which direction the injury came can be known.
4. The nature of the offence can be known from the location of the abrasion.
5. Whether the scratch or abrasion was created by the accused himself.
6. Maybe an external sign of internal injury

Period of abrasion:-

The period of abrasion is very relevant in medico-legal by which you can ascertain that a particular injury has been caused by himself or the result of an accident or original struggle. the table is as below-

Sr. No	Colour	Tentative time
01	Bright Red	Fresh abrasion
02	Crust formation	12-24 Hours
03	Reddish brown colour of the crust	2-3 Days
04	Epithelial cover formation	4-7 Days
05	peel off (Removal of crust)	After Seven days

3. Wound:-

A wound is defined as the forcible solution of continuity of any of the soft tissues or body including the skin, mucous membrane or cornea. It means that the injury of wounds damages skin and other tissues, It may be simple in nature or grievous or fatal in nature. Sometimes the bone fracture is also possible. It depends on the size of the wound and the area and part of the body by which we can ascertain the seriousness of the injury and its nature as well.

Types of wound:-

         There are four types of wounds on the basis of the nature of wounds these are as below-

1. Incised wound
2. Punctured or stab wound
3. Lacerated wound
4. Firearm wound

1. Incised wound:-

     The said wound is caused by hitting with any sharp-edged weapon like a knife, razor, sword, gandasa, spear, khukri etc. The width of this type of wound is due to the stretching of the tissue cut from the edge of the weapon from which the wound occurs. The edges of this wound are smooth, even or flat, clean-cut, completely demarcated and usually everted. Bleeding is more in these wounds. If a major blood vessel is cut, there is a possibility of death.

2. Punctured or stab wound:-

When a wound passes through the soft tissues of the body and goes into any cavity of the body such as the chest or abdomen, then that type of wound is called a punctured or stab wound. Punctured or a stab wound is done by the strike of penetrating tools like pin, needle, knife, scissors, vainette, razor, arrow etc. Such tools are not necessary to be sharp.

             The depth of puncture or stab wound is greater than their length and breadth is equal to or less than the length of the tool or weapon with which the blow has been done. If it crosses any part of the body, then two types of expressions are found.

     Entry's wound is big, its edges are inverted, and the wound of exit is smaller than the wound of entry and its edges are described.

3. Lacerated wound:-

            In this type of wound, the parts of the body burst and become rags. Cut torn wounds are caused by powerful blows of a blunt object or weapon, a severe fall on a hard place, and road and rail accidents. the edges of this kind of wound are torn, jagged, irregular and swollen. In this kind of wound deep bone may be fractured or vital organs may be torn. Blood vessels are crushed at the site of rupture, so there is no excessive bleeding.

4. Firearm wound:-

All firearms have a metal cord whose length varies. The metal cord remains closed at one end, which is called the breech end and remains open at the other end, which is called naal mukh. All cartridges are filled at the breech end and from the explosion of explosives, the placenta comes out of the mouth of the firearm.

              Firearm wounds may be two types, wounds of entrance and wounds of exit.

           If only the wound of entrance is found, then it is concluded that the bullet is inside the body after entering the body. Sometimes the bullet after entering the body goes into the respiratory tract and comes out of the body after coughing. Sometimes the bullet after entering the body goes into the digestive system and comes out through the feces. Sometimes it is also seen that the bullet hits the hard bone of the body and comes back from the entry wound.

          It is also kept in mind that entry wounds generally will be smaller than a bullet, If the bullet is fired from close to the body, the entry wound will be larger than that of the bullet. If the bullet is fired at right angles to the body, the wound is round whereas if the bullet is fired diagonally, the wound is oval.

Fracture and Callus formation:-

         According to medico-legal analysis, the fracture is a grievous type of injury, In general, when police prepared chitthi majroobi or otherwise injured brought before the medical officer, the injured will be examined by the medical officer and if any injury is grievous in nature then such injury or injuries would keep under observation and injured would be referred to the Radiologist, Radiologist would prepare a supplementary report. when as a judge if you are going to appreciate the medical evidence you found the callus formation is present in the supplementary report, it means that the fracture is more than 14 days old and the allegation in the prosecution story is that the fracture has been caused before five days from the date of the medical examination, in this situation you have to ponder over the entire facts and circumstances and you can draw the conclusion that there is some manipulation and the version of the persecution is doubtful. there is a proper link between the duration of the fracture and the callus formation. It means that if the duration of the fracture is more than 14 days then certainly callus formation would be present.

Precautions while examining medical experts or injured witnesses: -

    The first very important precaution is the statement of injured or medical expert witnesses must be recorded either by the presiding officer itself or by the other officials under the supervision of the presiding officer because you are the law knowing and have experience in practice and even you know the consequences of the statements recorded before the Court. Another thing is that if the statement would be recorded by the magistrate then the gesture and posture of the witness would also be recorded which is very relevant for the testifying of the veracity of the witness.

           The second very important precaution is while the defence counsel is doing cross-examination with an expert witness like a doctor or radiologist or any other forensic expert if some suggestions have been put by the defence counsel and such suggestions are contradictory with the prosecution version or against a particular medical or forensic report, during this active role of the presiding officer is necessary. such if the medical report of the injured is before the court and the doctor who examined the injury is before the court and all injuries mentioned under the report are simple in nature except one injury, one injury is grievous in nature, expert opinion is these injuries caused by a hard and blunt object, the suggestion of the defence counsel during cross-examination is, whether these injuries may be caused by fall in the earth, doctor simple said yes it may be caused, in this case, PO has to put the question to the expert doctor which book you are relying upon in respect of his particular opinion, it should be noted during the examination and it will help the Court while the appreciation of evidence if doctor's opinion is supported by any authentic book of medico-legal then you can rely upon such opinion other you have the liberty to discard those opinions which are not supported by any reference book of medico-legal. but in this situation, the role of the Court is very pivotal.

Appreciation of medical evidence:-

(A) Expert Witness:- 

          In a Criminal trial pending before Magistrate Court, below mentioned expert may appear from time to time-   

(a) Doctor (Medical Expert)   

(b)  Hand Writing Expert   

(c)  Thumb & Finger Print Expert  

(d) Typewriter Expert 

(e)  Voice Expert  

(f)  Chemical Examiner  

(g)  Ballistic Expert  

(h) Educator or interpreter

(i) Forensic expert

(j) Any Other Expert 

(B) Mandatory compliance in the judgments:- 

            Discussion of injury reports in the judgment is necessary. The Hon’ble Allahabad High Court has directed all the trial judges and magistrates in the State of U.P. that the Post-mortem report and medical examination reports must be quoted in the judgments and properly discussed failing which High Court shall take serious note of the omissions. There are three circular orders on this point these are as below-

(i) C.L. No. 13/VII-47, dated 3.3.1982, 

(ii) C.L. No. 4/2003, dated 20.2.2003 & 

(iii) C.L. No. 33, dated 28.9.2004,

(C) FIR and Majroobi Chitthi:-

            FIR and Majroobi Chitthi are very important documents, FIR is the key to the prosecution story, and it is always kept in mind that FIR is not an encyclopedia. If FIR has been lodged by the injured itself then the value of the FIR in respect of his oral statement becomes very relevant because the injury or way by causing injury is mentioned in the FIR, and the oral evidence is making a chain with FIR, then it will become the strong prosecution case. If the FIR has been lodged by a person other than the injured then the mentioned injuries in the FIR or way or injuries would be relevant if such FIR has been proved by the witness concerned, then FIR can be used corroboration as well as contradiction of the statement of the witnesses. In the case of State of U.P. Vs. Harban Sahai, 1998 (37) ACC 14 (Supreme Court—Three Judge Bench). Hon'ble Supreme Court held that even though there was no mention of “Kanta” in FIR and the deceased had one incised wound on the right side chest. Eye witness deposed about “Kanta” in court. Discrepancy in between medical and oral evidence held to be insignificant as use of kanta was not ruled out. The Supreme Court held that the testimony of an eye-witness cannot be discarded simply on the opinion of medical expert.  

              The role of majroobi Chitthi is also very relevant, if it is already proved by the witness concerned then it can also be used for corroboration as well as contradiction of the statements of the witnesses. It is very clear that FIR and Majroobi Chitthi is not the peace of substantive evidence but they can use for corroboration and contradiction of the statements of witnesses.

(d) Statements of 161 Cr. P.C:-

               It is a general principle that the statement of 161 has no relevancy and is not admissible in evidence in a criminal trial it can use only for the contradiction of the statements of the witnesses. The accused can be used this statement while his counsel is doing cross-examination of witnesses, the prosecution may use it only with the permission of the Court, generally when witnesses turn hostile or in case of reexamination of witnesses. Sub-clause (1) of Section 162 clearly said that provided, at any inquiry or trial in respect of any offence under investigation at the time when such statement was made: Provided that when any witness is called for the prosecution in such inquiry or trial whose statement has been reduced into writing as aforesaid, any part of his statement, if duly proved, may be used by the accused, and with the permission of the Court, by the prosecution, to contradict such witness in the manner provided by section 145 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872 ); and when any part of such statement is so used, any part thereof may also be used in the re-examination of such witness, but for the purpose only of explaining any matter referred to in his cross-examination.

                 In the case of Poddar Narayana vs State of AP (1975) 4 SCC 153. Hon'ble Supreme Court held that a statement recorded by the police officer during the investigation is inadmissible in evidence and proper procedure is to confront the witness with the contradictions when they are examined and then ask the investigating officer regarding these contradictions.

           In the case of Deoman Upadhayaya vs State, AIR 1960 All 1 (F.B) Hon'ble Allahabad High Court held that section 162 lays down the limited use to which a statement is recorded under Section 161 of the said code can be put. The Courts are prohibited from using such statements as corroboration of the statement made in Court.

         It is noteworthy to mention here that for the just and proper decision power of the Court to put the questions not affected by Section 162 Cr. P.C. In the case of Raghunandan vs State of UP (1974) 4 SCC 186 Hon'ble Court held that it is true that the ban imposed by the section 162 against the use of a statement of the witness recorded by the police during the investigation, appears sweeping and wide. But at the same time the power of the Court under section 165 Evidence Act to put any question to a witness, is not barred by section 162, Court can put the questions. 

 (E)  Injured witness & appreciation of his evidence:             

          Deposition of an injured witness should be relied upon unless there are strong grounds for rejection of his evidence on the basis of major contradictions and discrepancies for the reason that his presence on the scene stands established in the case and it is proved that he suffered the injuries during the said incident. It means that if there are only minor contradictions then such evidence cannot be discarded. There are several case laws on this point some of them can be given below-

1. Bhagirath Vs. State of MP, AIR 2019 SC 264. 
2. State of Haryana Vs. Krishan, AIR 2017 SC 3125 
3. Mukesh Vs. State for NCT of Delhi & Others, AIR 2017 SC 2161 (Three-Judge Bench)  
4. Bhagwan Jagannath Markad Vs. State of Maharashtra, (2016) 10 SCC 537 
5. Veer Singh Vs. State of UP, (2014) 2 SCC 455 
6. Shyam Babu Vs. State of UP, AIR 2012 SC 3311 
7. Mano Dutt & Another Vs. State of UP, 2012 (77) ACC 209 (SC) 
8. Mohammad Mian Vs. State of U.P., 2011 (72) ACC 441 (SC) (ix) Abdul Sayeed Vs. State of M.P, (2010) 10 SCC 259 
9. Balraje Vs. State of Maharashtra,(2010) 6 SCC 673 
10. Jarnail Singh Vs. State of Punjab, 2009 (6) Supreme 526.

         In the cases of Bhagwan Jagannath Markad Vs. The state of Maharashtra, (2016) 10 SCC 537 & Maqsoodan Vs. The State of U.P., (1983) 1 SCC 218 (Three-Judge  Bench). Hon'ble Court held that the presence of the injured witnesses at the time and place of the occurrence cannot be doubted as they had received injuries during the course of the incident and they should normally be not disbelieved. 

(F) Whether non-examination of injured witness held fatal to the prosecution case?:- 

     It depends on the facts and circumstances of each case, if there are more than one injured witness and another injured witness either already died or has not been found after making sufficient effort, in this case, non-examination of another injured witness, cannot be fatal to the prosecution case. another hand if the injured witness is sole and he is appearing before Court on previous dates but has not been examined, in this case, the prosecution case would fatal. 

         In the case of State of UP Vs Wasif Haider and others, (2019) 2 SCC 303 Hon'ble Supreme Court held that where an injured witness had not been examined by the prosecution despite the fact that he attended the trial court regularly, the Apex Court held that his non-examination was fatal to the prosecution since his presence at the place of occurrence was beyond doubt. 

         Another situation is if the injured witness is not examined due to the unavailability of the witness, but the case is otherwise proved by the eye witness, in this case, his non-examination would not be fatal to the prosecution case.

(G) Evidentiary value of doctor's opinion, whether Court is bound by such opinion:- 

            In the case of Mahmood Vs. State of U.P., AIR 2008 SC 515 Hon'ble Supreme Court held that as per Sec. 45, Evidence Act a doctor is a medical expert. It is well settled that medical evidence is only evidence of opinion and it is not conclusive, and when oral evidence is found to be inconsistent with medical opinion, the question of relying upon one or the other would depend upon the facts and circumstances of each case. 

            In the case of Tomaso Bruno & Another Vs. State of Uttar Pradesh, (2015) 7 SCC 178 (Three-Judge Bench) (para 40). 43 Hon'ble Court held that the courts normally would look at expert evidence with a greater sense of acceptability but the courts are not absolutely guided by the report of the experts, especially if such reports are perfunctory and unsustainable. The purpose of an expert opinion is primarily to assist the court in arriving at a final conclusion but such a report is not a conclusive one.  The court is expected to analyse the report, read it in conjunction with the other evidence on record and form its final opinion as to whether such report is worthy of reliance or not.  Serious doubts arise about the cause of death stated in the post-mortem reports in this case. 

            In the case of State of Haryana Vs. Bhagirath, AIR 1999 SC 2005. Hon'ble Supreme Court held that if the opinion given by one Doctor is bereft of logic or objectivity or is not consistent with probability, the court has no liability to go by that opinion merely because it is said by a doctor. The opinion given by a medical witness need not be the last word on the subject and such an opinion shall be tested by the Court.  

(H) Medical evidence when showing two possibilities:- 

            In the case of Anil Rai Vs. State of Bihar, (2001) 7 SCC 318. Hon'ble Supreme Court held that where medical evidence shows two possibilities, the one consistent with the reliable direct evidence should be accepted. 

(I) The conflict between ocular and medical evidence, how to reconcile? : 

             If the direct testimony of eyewitnesses is reliable, the same cannot be rejected on hypothetical medical evidence and the ocular evidence, if reliable, should be preferred over medical evidence. The opinion given by a medical witness (doctor) need not be the last word on the subject. It is of an only advisory character. Such an opinion shall be tested by the court. If the opinion is bereft of logic or objectivity, the court is not obliged to go by that opinion. If one doctor forms one opinion and another doctor forms a different opinion on the same fact, it is open to the Judge to adopt the view which is more objective or probable. Similarly, if the opinion given by one doctor is not consistent with the probability, the court has no liability to go by the opinion merely because it is said by the doctor. Of course, due weight must be given to the opinions given by persons who are experts in the particular subject. see the below case laws-

1.  Sadhu Saran Singh Vs. State of UP, (2016) 4 SCC 357

2.  Abdul Sayeed Vs. State of M.P, (2010) 10 SCC 259

3. Chhotanney Vs. State of U.P., AIR 2009 SC 2013 

4. Mallappa Siddappa Vs. State of Karnataka, 2009 (66) ACC 725 (SC)

5. Mahmood Vs. State of U.P., AIR 2008 SC 515

6.  Vishnu Vs. State of Maharashtra, 2006 (54) ACC 554 (SC)

7. State of Punjab Vs. Hakam Singh, (2005) 7 SCC 408

8.  Anwarul Haq Vs. State of U.P., 2005 (4) SCJ 516

9. Anil Rai Vs. State of Bihar, (2001) 7 SCC 318

10.  State of Haryana Vs. Bhagirath & others, (1999) 5 SCC 96

11. Adya Singh Vs. State of Bihar, 1998 (37) ACC 527 (SC)

12.State of U.P. Vs. Harban Sahai, 1998 (37) ACC 14 (SC) 44    

(J) When ocular & medical evidence contrary to “wounds & weapons”:-

      The conflict between oral testimony and medical evidence can be of varied dimensions and shapes. There may be a case where there is a total absence of injuries which are normally caused by a particular weapon. There is another category where though the injuries found on the victim are of such types which are possible by the weapon of assault, but the size and dimension of the injuries do not exactly tally with the size and dimension of the weapon. The third category can be where the injuries found on the victim are such which are normally caused by the weapon of assault but they are not found on that portion of the body where they are deposed to have been caused by the eyewitnesses. The same kind of inference cannot be drawn in the three categories of apparent conflict in oral and medical evidence enumerated above. In the first category, it may legitimately be inferred that the oral evidence regarding assault having been made from a particular weapon is not truthful. However, in the second and third categories, no such inference can straight away be drawn. The manner and method of assault, the position of t victim, the resistance offered by him, the opportunity available to the witnesses to see the occurrence like their distance, presence of light and many other similar factors will have to be taken into consideration in judging the reliability of ocular testimony. (See Thaman Kumar Vs. State of Union Territory of Chandigarh, (2003) 6 SCC 380) 

(K) Location of injuries & difference between ocular & medical evidence: 

         In the case of Keshavlal Vs. State of M.P., (2002) 3 SCC 254. Hon'ble Supreme Court held that where according to the FIR, the injury was inflicted on the nose of the deceased but all the witnesses had deposed in the court that the injury was caused on the body of the deceased from behind near the right shoulder and the force with which it was caused resulted in the cutting of the vital inner parts of her body, it has been held by the Supreme Court that such difference between the statement of the eyewitnesses and the FIR would not affect the prosecution case when all the witnesses had deposed the position of the said injury consistently in the court.  

         In the case of Niranjan Prasad Vs. State of M.P., 1996 CrLJ 1987 (SC) Hon'ble Supreme Court held that in this murder trial, the testimony of eyewitnesses was that the deceased and injured were assaulted with sharp cutting weapons but their testimony was not corroborated with medical evidence showing the deceased having been injured by the blunt object (weapon) only. Post Mortem Report shows that the deceased had no injury which could be caused by a sharp cutting weapon and, indeed, he had sustained only one injury which could be caused, according to the doctor by a blunt weapon only. Keeping in view the sharp contrast between the ocular testimony and the medical evidence, the Supreme Court set aside the conviction of the accused persons. 

Conclusion:-

       It is now concluded that the injured witness is a more trustworthy witness other than ordinary witnesses. it is also born in the mind that a doctor's evidence is a mere opinion if it is consistent with direct evidence then it works in its true sense. this article emphasizes covering only Magistrate triable cases.

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