Sniffer dog evidence can't be discarded: HC

MUMBAI: A sniffer dog's evidence in a criminal case cannot be discarded, the Bombay high court has held while convicting a man of raping and murdering a five-year-old girl in 2007.
A division bench of Justice Ranjana Desai and Justice Vijaya Kapse Tahilramani noted that the evidence of a tracking or sniffer dog provides further proof of the crime, in addition to circumstantial evidence.
"Judicial notice must be taken of the fact that the training skills and special qualities found in police dogs are now being recognized universally as being of such a high calibre that in cases such as detection of explosive drugs, they are found superior and more effective than the most sophisticated instruments," said the judges, adding, "In this background, one needs to take cognizance that for tracking down a criminal, special faculties, qualities and skills of the dog are aspects of which note must be taken."
The court said that it would not be possible to brush aside the evidence of a tracking dog. "We are not placing complete and implicit reliance with regard to the identification of accused only on the dog tracking evidence. We have accepted this last head of evidence, in addition to the earlier evidence, in so far as it completely supports the same."
Kolhapur resident Ravindra Kamble (23) was accused of raping and murdering a five-year-old girl from his village on October 24, 2007. The girl's decomposed body was found in a field a few days later. The police called in the dog squad. The dog sniffed the vest found near the body and led the investigators first to the victim's house and then to Kamble's house, said additional public prosecutor Mankunwar Deshmukh.
During the trial, four witnesses testified that they had seen the victim with Kamble. A trial court sentenced Kamble to death. In the high court, Kamble's lawyers claimed that the prosecution's case was built entirely on the evidence of the sniffer dog. Deshmukh, however, pointed to other circumstantial evidence against Kamble.
The high court held Kamble guilty of the rape and murder, but said that the cases was not a "rarest of rare" that invited the death penalty. The court reduced Kamble's sentence to a life term for murder and awarded him 10 years for the rape. Kamble will serve the jail terms one after another, and not simultaneously, said the judges.