Forensic Examination of Printed Documents

Apart from handwritten documents, the perpetrators also abuse the typewritten, printed or any kind of machine generated documents to fulfil their malicious intent and to defraud the innocents. These documents include typewritten wills, sale and purchase deed, bank cheques, passports, etc., as well as counterfeit currency and other.

Forensic examination of printed documents pertains to forgery detection including examination, authentication, and verification of alterations, obliterations, and erasures in typewritten, machine-printed documents, passports, wills, bank cheques, etc.

• Alteration: Alteration is defined as any change to a document which gives it a different effect from that it originally possessed. Alteration can be done by addition/interlineations and overwriting.
• Addition: Addition in the document is defined as the insertion of any word, digit, etc., which changes the meaning or value of the document.
• Erasure: Erasure is defined as erasing some of the content in a disputed or questioned documents which results in change of the ultimate meaning of the disputed document. For instance, erasure of some beneficiary’s name from a will, etc.
• Obliteration: Obliteration means to obliterate what has been written or printed in a disputed or questioned document to cover up some information and ultimately change the meaning of the disputed document so that the disputed document favours the perpetrator.
• Forgery detection method: Alterations, obliterations, and erasures not visible to the naked layman’s eyes but can often be detected through the eyes of skilled forensic documents expert and by the use of photography and other imaging devices that utilize ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths of light.

With time, the forgers are becoming more trained and utilizes various tools and techniques to commit forgery and create forged and fake documents to defraud the innocents. Although no forgery is perfect and a forged or fake document still carry the signs which indicates the forgery. However, these signs are not visible to the naked eyes of a layman. A forensic documents expert utilizes his/her skills and scientific tools to unveil these signs and indications of forgery to bring the ultimate truth out and saves the victim from being defraud.

At Connectel‘s (Forensic Division), Forensic Documents Examination including Forensic Examination of Printed Documents is done with highest credibility and impartiality. Being the first and Only Forensic Science laboratory in private sector accredited by Government of India for ISO / IEC 17025 :2017 Standards acceptable worldwide by all Government and Regulatory bodies we only deliver quality forensic testing. By virtue of this accreditation, we are at par with any other similarly accredited forensic science laboratory in government sector in 107 member countries of ISO and India for report generation capability.

We maintain proper chain of custody at the laboratory from the point of receiving/collection of evidence till the disposal of forensic examination report. The observation and results of the forensic examination of evidence are kept confidential.

Reports generated by our forensic laboratory are admissible in the Indian Court of Law in the same category followed by the Government FSL’s. Further, we provide 65B certificate for admissibility of electronic evidence under Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Our forensic experts are skilled and can testify in Indian courts to provide Expert Opinion under Section 45 of Indian Evidence Act, 1872.