Recently, the Madhya Pradesh High Court directs the Director General of Police (DGP) to ensure the proper upkeep of 'malkhanas' (evidence storage rooms) in all police stations, aiming to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

Justice Subodh Abhyankar has ordered that all police stations be provided with a web link to facilitate monthly updates on their latest inventory and the status of the Malkhana.

"In such circumstances, it is directed to the Director General of Police to take stock of all the Malkhanas of all the police stations, so as to ensure that such incidents are avoided in future in other police stations. For this purpose, a web link can also be provided to all the police stations, updating the latest inventory and the status of Malkhana every month, viz., if any action is required to be taken to ensure its proper maintenance, which would at least keep all the police personnel responsible for the same, on their guards," the Court said in its order of October 4.

The issue came to light during the Court's consideration of a bail application filed by Ansar Ahmad, who is accused of assaulting his wife in August 2021, resulting in injuries to her head, hand, and spine. During the hearing, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abhinay Vishwakarma and Station House Officer (SHO) Chandrakant Patel from the Vijay Nagar police station reported that rats had damaged plastic containers holding viscera during the rainy season, leading to the destruction of crucial evidence and hindering the police's ability to obtain a histopathological report. 

They also revealed that 28 additional samples had been destroyed by the rodents. The Court was informed that a departmental inquiry has been initiated against former SHO Ravindra Singh Gurjar and Malkhana in-charge Suresh Chandra Mehta due to their lapses. Furthermore, it was stated that the department has acknowledged the loss of evidence, relocated the seized materials and Malkhana to a different room, and implemented additional precautions to sanitize and seal the area. Despite the destruction of valuable evidence, the Court concluded that no further orders would be necessary in this case.

"Although, the aforesaid explanation, by no stretch of imagination, can be said to be satisfactory as apparently, the valuable evidence has already been destroyed due to the negligence on the part of the concerned officers of the Police, who were responsible to keep the articles/material collected during the investigation, in proper and safe custody, hence, no further order is required to be passed so far as the present case is concerned," the order said.

The Court emphasized that police officers should have taken all relevant factors into account to safeguard the seized materials during the investigation.

"It is anybody’s guess as to what the situation in the police stations at small places would be, when in the present case, the police station was one of the most busy police stations of Indore city," the Court said.

Advocate Geetanjali Chaurasia appeared for the accused.

Government Advocate Vishal Singh Panwar appeared for the respondent.

Case Title: Ansar Ahmed v State