Government Analysts
The Central Government may by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint or recognise such persons as it thinks fit and having the prescribed qualifications to be Government Analysts for the purpose of analysis of samples of air, water, soil or other substance sent for analysis to any environmental laboratory established or recognised under sub-section (1) of section 12.
In plain English
What this section actually means
Section 13 deals with the person who actually conducts the analysis. The Centre notifies — or recognises — qualified persons as Government Analysts. The qualifications are set out in Rule 10 of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 (graduate / post-graduate in chemistry, environmental sciences or allied disciplines, with prescribed work experience).
In practice, the Government Analyst is a senior scientific officer at a Section 12 lab. Their signed report is what bears evidentiary value under Section 14 — courts treat it as prima facie proof of the facts stated.
Real life
What this looks like in real life
Analyst's qualification challenged
Setup. Defence counsel challenges the prosecution by pointing out that the Government Analyst who signed the lab report did not hold the qualifications prescribed in Rule 10 at the time of analysis.
What the law does. Section 13 ties admissibility to qualification. If the qualification is not made out, the Analyst's report loses its Section 14 evidentiary value. The prosecution must then prove the contents of the report through ordinary evidence — usually impossible.
Cross-references
Read this alongside
- Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986§Rule 10·Prescribes qualifications for Government Analysts under Section 13.
Frequently asked
Questions about Section 13
Open this section in the source PDF
Environment Protection Act, 1986.pdf
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