GEQD Kolkata

GEQD stands for Government Examiner of Questioned Documents and it refers to a government position with the basic task of providing forensic document analysis and services.

1. History of GEQD Kolkata By, Madona Mathew SFSRM, RRU Madona Mathew 1

2. Introduction GEQD stands for Government Examiner of Questioned Documents and it refers to a government position with the basic task of providing forensic document analysis and services. Many countries have their own so-called document examiners that are needed in various cases wherein there are disputed documents in terms of authorship or authenticity. In India, there are designated GEQD or document examiners across the different states and all are under the government’s Ministry of Home Affairs. Madona Mathew 2

3. The basic purpose of having a GEQD is to check whether a particular document is authentic or not. Authenticity may be checked through a variety of scientific methods which are more commonly known as document forensics. Items such as alterations, forgeries, chain of document possession, and damage to the document in question are all studied by a designated GEQD or Government Examiner of Questioned Documents. The document examination is often requested during court hearings wherein submitted documentary evidence may be in question or under suspicion. Madona Mathew 3

4. History of Questioned Document examination Document examination has been in use for decades now for disputed documents in the court of law. The history of questioned documents dates back to 3rd century A.D. However, scientific document examination started around the 18th century. The first case reported regarding the document examination was in the 3rd century. In the 6th century (around 539 AD), Justinian code was established by a Roman emperor Justinian in which the guidelines for document examination were mandated. Madona Mathew 4

5. In a famous case, Alphonse Bertillon (inventor of Anthropometry) was also a photographer and using the technology accused an army person of forgery which was later challenged by the experts from the US and England. During the 1890s handwriting examination was common and two experts Hagen and Frazer published a book on disputed documents. During the 1900s, Albert Sherman Osborn wrote many articles related to typewriting identification in 1901 before publishing a book titled “Questioned Documents”. Madona Mathew 5

6. History of GEQD, Kolkata The British Government of Bengal felt the necessity of identifying the handwritings on the secret documents connected with the Indian independence movement. During the British rule, Mr CR. Hardless [then Superintendent in the A.G.’s office in Bengal] was appointed to the post of Government handwriting expert of Bengal in 1904. In 1906 the laboratory was shifted to Shimla under the control of director CID where a post for handwriting experts of India was appointed. Madona Mathew 6

7. History of GEQD, Kolkata Mr CR. Hardless was appointed to this post and was replaced soon by F. Brewster, a police officer from the West Bengal CID as Government examiner of questioned documents (GEQD). At first, the work of this office was mainly confined to the identification of writings on secret documents. Later, as the application of this branch of science was felt in many other cases, the services of this office were thrown open to criminal as well as civil court cases. Madona Mathew 7

8. History of GEQD, Kolkata During the World War II, this organization took up the additional work of secret censorship, including the detection of invisible writings and training of military personnel in this field of science. In Independent India, GEQD helped with investigations in high-profile cases as the multi-crore securities scam, the JMM bribery case, the hawala scam of 1995-96, besides scores of national and international criminal cases. In India, there are 3 designated GEQD in Hyderabad, Kolkata and Shimla which were merged in 1910 under Central Forensic science laboratories in Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chandigarh. Madona Mathew 8

9. GEQD The Institution of Government Examiner of Questioned Document (GEQD) is one of the oldest in the world in the field of forensic document sciences. In 1906, on the recommendation of the Police Commission, the first unit of the GEQD was established at Shimla. The second unit of the GEQD started functioning in 1964 at Kolkata. The third unit of the GEQD came into existence in 1968 at Hyderabad. Madona Mathew 9

10. Control of the institutions The administrative control of these institutions was initially under the Intelligence Bureau (IB), under the then Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR & D). Presently it is being controlled by the Directorate of Forensic Science, New Delhi. Min. of Home Affairs, Govt. of India. Madona Mathew 10

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