The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : ISO-17025 for State Forensic Lab

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 04, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

ISO-17025 for State Forensic Lab

By K. Srinivas Reddy

Director of the Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratory K.P.C. Gandhi.

HYDERABAD, OCT. 3. It's like a direction board for the road user. A wrong direction could only make the harried motorist curse the authorities, but any such mistake in forensic investigation has disastrous consequences. A murderer could get away and an innocent man could be arraigned for a murder he never committed.

With criminals adopting more and more ingenious ways in perpetrating crimes, the investigator is increasingly depending on scientific support from forensic science experts. Not only for cracking mysterious crimes, but also for providing irrefutable scientific evidence that stands judicial scrutiny.

Technical competence

This dependence calls for technical competence of the highest level not only in maintenance of the equipment at the forensic labs, but also in updating the knowledge levels of the forensic expert. And this is the quality that qualified the Andhra Pradesh State Forensic Laboratory (APSFSL) to get the coveted ISO-17025 certification.

Interestingly, ten out of 11 departments of the APSFSL have been cleared for the certification, while only one unit of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) got this unique distinction in the country so far. The ISO-17025 certificate is likely to be presented next month since the National Accreditation Board has completed all the audits for Testing and Calibrations of Laboratories (NABL).

Setting high standards

Getting this certification means that the technical competence of the personnel and the equipment used is of highest standards, while the ISO-9001, (which the APSFSL has already got in 1999) certifies quality systems management. "Using modern techniques for evaluation of evidence and maintaining stringent levels of quality of reports and equipment have enabled us to qualify for the ISO-17025," the APFSL Director, K.P.C. Gandhi, says.

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