Introduction

Forensic science is the new emerging field in the world of science which proves to be exigent in the investigation of criminal and civil cases. In simple words, knowledge of all-natural sciences is applied in the law, serving fair decisions. The forensic field gives access to various services which aid in solving the buried mystery of the crime. Nowadays the crime rate is increasing with a speedy rate universally. Crime is any act which is against the law. Many factors are affecting the atrocity rate because no one is born as a criminal, it is the social, environmental, biological, many more factors that affect the mental and emotional status of a person, resulting in the commencement of heinous crimes. There is various evidence present at a scene of crime as every person leaves a unique mark at scene of crime which can be categorized as physical, biological, or trace evidence. Evidence form a connecting link between the three; crime scene, accused and victim.

Personal identification is considered as an imperative factor from decades in the process of investigation as it confirms the presence of the person during the time of crime and also helps in proving the guilty. In simple words it can be defined as the process of establishing identity of a specific person. In the case of mass disasters, mass murders, or the cases where the decomposed body is found, personal identification is necessary to identify the deceased (Kanchan, 1-2). The need to perform personal identification of the accused arises in case of the heinous crime where the suspect leaves its prints in some form that is enough to prove the presence of a suspect at the crime scene.

In 1883, Alphonse Bertillon gave the science of anthropometry i.e. measurement of eleven body parts that were unique to every individual for fulling the aim of identification and continued to be applied for an aforesaid reason until and unless the famous William-West case came where the two have exactly same body measurements late 18th century (Seigel, 474). The science of fingerprint evolved for individualization which forms the pillar of personal establishing uniqueness of an individual in recent times with chief evidentiary value in court. The most commonly found evidence at crime place are fingerprint patterns as these are the impression of the palmar and plantar pattern formed by skin ridges (dermal ridges). The ridges present on skin possess various sweat pores through which perspiration comes out and leave the impression of fingerprint pattern when comes in contact with surfaces.

Friction ridges are present on the plantar and palmar region of hands, foot, and also on tails of some primates. They started to form in the ninth and tenth week of fetal life and around 14 week sweat pore and ducts are begin to form. Dermatoglyphics is the science which deals with the analysis and classification of fingerprints (pattern and characteristics) and is used by Sir William Herschel for the first time in India for establishing the identity of an individual. The fingerprints are proved to be an excellent way of establishing the identity of an individual.

Principles of Fingerprint

1. Fingerprint is an important identical characteristic and no two fingers yet have been found to possess the same or identical minutiae.

2. Fingerprints are permanent i.e. once developed they remain unchanged for life.

3. Fingerprints are classified on the basis of their pattern.