Cases of evidence tampering

A very slow-moving judiciary system combined with the ability to get people in power to do anything is the perfect recipe for getting out of complex cases. A very common strategy has been to tamper the evidence in a particular case so that there is not enough evidence in the first place.

A very recent example proves that: As cited in this article, some Provogue executive was sent a parcel containing cocaine. This was intercepted and caught by the police. In the run-up to the case, however, some Assistant Police Inspectors replaced the contents of the vials containing the cocaine (which would be the prime evidence) with boric powder. Luckily, in this case, some one had the good thought of exposing such a deed. But, if it had gone unnoticed, the case would surely have been dropped.

Some other examples where such evidence tampering may have happened:

• In a hit-and-run case, the Gamdevi police had in their possession the jeep that was responsible for causing the accident. However, when the case came up for hearing, the jeep was "lost".Case disimissed: lack of evidence.
• In the case (link here) of the more high profile Bharat Shah, it was alleged that he had talked to some "underworld" people and the police had recorded this conversation on tapes. In the panchnama filed by the police, it was stated that there were 2 voices in the tape. However, when the case came up for hearing, the tape had 3 voices. Wonder if this was done purposely to weaken the case. End result was "case disimissed" due to incorrect evidence recorded in the panchnama.