Handwriting, Signature & Fingerprint Expert in Delhi

Every writer develops individual habits of movement which persist throughout life, within a range of natural variation. The disputed signature or writing is compared with admitted and specimen writings of the purported writer to determine whether it is genuine, simulated or traced.

Characteristics examined

• Speed, rhythm and line quality
• Slant, size, proportions and alignment
• Pen position, pen pressure, pen lifts and hesitation
• Spacing, shading, and the formation and connection of letters

Principles applied

• No writer can produce two signatures that are mathematically identical; signatures that superimpose exactly indicate that at least one may have been traced.
• A writer cannot write better than his or her natural skill.
• Signatures are compared with signatures and writing with writing, in the same script and style.
• Natural variation differs from writer to writer — hence the need for sufficient, contemporaneous specimens.

Typical matters

• Wills, sale deeds, agreements to sell and powers of attorney
• Cheques, account-opening forms and other banking documents
• Receipts, affidavits and anonymous letters

Opinions can be given on disputed writing in any language or script.

Many disputes concern not who signed a document, but what was done to it afterwards. Non-destructive examination under magnification, oblique light and ultraviolet and infrared radiation can establish whether a document remains in its original condition.

What can be detected

• Simulated (free-hand) and traced forgeries
• Additions and interpolations made with a different instrument, or at a different time
• Mechanical and chemical erasures
• Overwriting of figures and dates
• Substitution of pages
• Indented impressions from writing on an overlying sheet
• Obliterated writing, which can frequently be deciphered

Every finding is documented photographically, so that it can be demonstrated to the Court.

The friction-ridge patterns of the fingers and palms are unique to each individual and do not change during life. Fingerprint identification (dactyloscopy) compares a disputed impression with specimen impressions to determine whether both were made by the same finger.

Applications

• Disputed thumb impressions on sale deeds, wills, receipts and affidavits
• Thumb impressions of illiterate or infirm executants and witnesses
• Comparison with specimen impressions taken under supervision

Basis of identification

• Pattern type — under the Henry system, loops (60–70% of fingerprints), whorls (25–35%) and arches (about 5%)
• Core, delta, ridge count and ridge tracing
• Ridge characteristics — ridge endings, bifurcations, dots and islands — and their relative positions
• Allowance for distortion: no two impressions, even of the same finger, are identical in every detail

Latent (chance) prints are impressions left on surfaces at a scene, often invisible to the naked eye. They are deposited in perspiration and natural oils, or in contaminants such as blood or paint.

Procedure

• Photography of the scene and of each article before treatment
• Development with fingerprint powders — or by fuming, for difficult surfaces and older impressions
• Photography, lifting and preservation of the developed prints
• Comparison with specimen impressions of suspects and of persons to be eliminated

Inks that appear identical to the eye frequently differ in composition, and respond differently under ultraviolet and infrared radiation.

Questions addressed

• Were all the entries written with the same ink or writing instrument?
• Was an entry, figure or signature added later, with a different pen?
• Do the paper and its security features correspond with the claimed origin?
• Were two pencil writings made with the same pencil lead?

The examination is non-destructive; the document is not altered by it.

Revenue stamps render receipts and agreements enforceable, and are therefore a frequent subject of ante-dating. In India they are printed by the India Security Press, Nashik Road; their designs and security features are changed from time to time, without a fixed interval.

What the examination establishes

• The probable period during which a particular revenue stamp was in circulation
• Whether the document could have been executed on the date it bears
• Whether a stamp has been lifted from one document and affixed to another

Deepak Jain has a distinctive record in this field, founded on long and systematic study of revenue stamps issued by the Government of India.

The period of circulation need not coincide with the date on which a stamp was first issued.

Manufacturing tolerances, uneven wear and misalignment of type give each typewriter individual characteristics, even among machines of the same make and model.

The examination can establish

• The make and model of the typewriter used
• Whether two documents were typed on the same machine
• Whether a document, or an addition to it, was typed on a particular machine

The examination is of particular value in anonymous letters and typewritten interpolations. Where a carbon ribbon was used, the ribbon itself may also be examined.

Specimen fingerprints are recorded with fingerprinting ink on standard fingerprint cards, and attested, for:

• persons emigrating, or applying for a visa;
• employers who require fingerprints as part of an application;
• other verification procedures that call for attested fingerprints.

Before trial

• Preliminary assessment of the questioned document and the specimens available
• Advice on obtaining admitted and specimen writings
• Technical briefing of counsel, supported by authoritative texts and judicial precedent

In court

• Deposition as an expert witness, with photographic demonstration of the findings
• Forensic photography of documents in court
• Preparation of the cross-examination of the opposing party’s expert

Enquiries and institutions

• Evidence before tribunals and departmental enquiries of banks and government undertakings
• Opinions on disputed handwriting and signatures in any language, finger impressions, fraudulent additions and alterations, forgeries and anonymous letters