UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF LEGAL STUDIES, PANJAB UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF LEGAL STUDIES, PANJAB

UNIVERSITY, CHANDIGARH

PROJECT TOPIC:

GAIT

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

Dr. Ajay Ranga Tanish Dahuja, 32/18

Asst. Professor B.A. LLB. Hons.

UILS 9th Semester, Section A

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I extend my heartfelt thanks to my teacher and mentor Dr. Ajay Ranga for giving me an
opportunity to work on this project which helped me to gain extensive knowledge. During the
making of the project, I came across many things apart from the syllabus which proved to be a
great learning experience for me. I thank sir for guiding and helping me. Without his support I
would have not been able to complete this project report.

Last but not the least; I thank my friends and my batchmates for their help and support!

Tanish Dahuja

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 4

CONCEPT OF PERSONAL IDENTITY .................................................................................. 5

MEDICOLEGAL ASPECTS OF IDENTIFICATION & IT’S PURPOSE .......................... 5

CHARACTERISTICS OF IDENTIFICATION ........................................................................ 6

GAIT: MEANING AND GENESIS .......................................................................................... 8

APPROACHES TO GAIT IDENTIFICATION .................................................................. 12

USAGE OF GAIT IN FORENSIC SCIENCE ........................................................................ 12

JUDICIARY’S STAND ON GAIT IN INDIA ........................................................................ 15

CONCLUDING REMARKS ................................................................................................... 20

REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………….21

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INTRODUCTION

“The dead cannot cry out for justice; it is the duty of the living to do so for them.” - Lois
MeMaster Bujold.”1

In criminal investigations, forensic science primarily deals with materials and, indirectly, via
those items, with men, places, and time. Materials are detected and contrasted with forensic
science procedures. The links between the crime, the offender, the victim, the scene of the
crime, and the time and location of the incident are frequently established.2

All fields of science are included in forensic science, which is used for legal purposes. Initially,
every method was taken from a different branch of science, such as chemistry, drugs, surgery,
biology, photography, physics, and mathematics. Over the last several years, it has created not
only its own procedures but also its own branches, which are more or less forensic science-
exclusive domains.3The study of fingerprints, anthropometry, track marks, documents, and
forensic ballistics is practically exclusively limited to forensic science.

Identity is the collection of physical traits that characterise a person, whether they are
functional, psychological, normal, or abnormal. Human identification has proven to be one of
the most difficult undertakings that mankind has ever encountered since the beginning of time.4

Human gait was firstly studied in the medical field.5,6,7 In order to determine whether patients
had health issues, doctors examined human gait. Later, scientists discovered that practically
everyone has a unique walking style, much like the fingerprint and iris.8 They thought that a
person might be recognised biologically based on their walk. Therefore, GAIT is becoming a
crucial and extremely useful characteristic to identify offenders in the lack of main, direct
evidence.

1
Nikam SS, Gadgil RM, Bhoosreddy AR, Shah KR, Shirsekar VU. Personal Identification in Forensic Science
Using Uniqueness of Radiographic Image of Frontal Sinus. J Forensic Odontostomatol. 2015 Jul 1;33(1):1-7.
PMID: 26851444; PMCID: PMC5734812.
2
Sharma, B. R. (2019). Forensic Science in Criminal Investigation and Trials. Delhi: Universal Law Publishing.
3
Ibid.
4
de Paiva LAS, Segre M. Sexing the human skull through the mastoid process. Rev Hosp Clin Fac Med Sao
Paulo. 2003. Jan-Feb;58(1):15–20. 10.1590/S0041-87812003000100004
5
Blanke DJ, Hageman PA. Comparison of gait of young men and elderly men. Physical
Therapy. 1989;69(2):144–148.
6
Whittle MW. Clinical gait analysis: a review. Human Movement Science. 1996;15(3):369–387.
7
Johansson G. Visual motion perception. Scientific American. 1975;232(6):76–88.
8
Stevenage SV, Nixon MS, Vince K. Visual analysis of gait as a cue to identity. Applied Cognitive
Psychology. 1999;13(6):513–526

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CONCEPT OF PERSONAL IDENTITY

Personal identification is defined as establishing the identity9 of an individual.10 Identification

is the process of determining a person's uniqueness from their physical features. It is possible
to identify someone by looking at specific characteristics that set them apart from others.11
Because a person exists as an entity in society and is treated as such by the legal system,
establishing a person's identification is of utmost significance.

The ability to recognize and identify people is a key social function. It is also a complicated
one since it integrates information from several modalities and spans the interface between
perception, memory, and semantic understanding. The most researched component of it is face
recognition, but there are other ways to recognise people as well. Voice, name, and additional
indicators including body habit, personal items, handwriting, pace, and body motion can all be
used to recognise someone.12,13,14

Pathologists, doctors, dentists, anatomists, physical anthropologists, and specialists in the

interpretation of different trace evidence are some of the professionals who can help solve
identification.15

MEDICOLEGAL ASPECTS OF IDENTIFICATION & IT’S PURPOSE

Identification is crucial in medicolegal matters, both for the living and the dead.

The police or crime victims typically carry out the identification of the living in order to identify
the criminals utilising trail evidence. However, a medical professional may be called when
clarification of disputed facts requires medical competence. A medical professional is mostly
focused on identifying a deceased corpse.16

9
Identity means the fact of being who or what a person or thing is. (oxford languages)
10
Kanchan T, Krishan K (2013) Personal Identification in Forensic Examinations. Anthropol 2: 114.
doi:10.4172/2332-0915.1000114
11
Singh, V. P. (2020). Forensic Science. New Delhi: Bharat Law House.
12
Ardila A. People recognition: a historical/anthropological perspective. Behav Neurol. 1993;6(2):99–105. doi:
10.3233/BEN-1993-6205 N897100562310854 [pii]
13
Barton JJS, Corrow SL. Recognizing and identifying people: A neuropsychological review. Cortex. 2016
Feb;75:132-150. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.11.023. Epub 2015 Dec 25. PMID: 26773237; PMCID:
PMC4754142.
14
Bruyer R. La reconnaissance des visages. Delachaux & Niestle; Paris: 1990.
15
Vij, K. (2011). Textbook of Forensic Medicene and Toxicology. New Delhi: Elsevier.
16
Ibid.

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1. IN LIVING PERSONS.

In Civil Courts: In civil matters such as those involving inheritance claims, pensions,
marriage, insurance claims, passports, missing individuals, voting rights, sexual orientation
disputes, and identity disputes in divorce proceedings, among others, it is necessary to identify
a live person.17

In Criminal Courts: In criminal situations including assault, murder, rape, etc., absconding
troops, swapping of new-borns in hospitals, impersonation in criminal cases, criminal abortion,
etc., identification of a living person is necessary.18

2. IN DEAD PERSONS:

Identification of the deceased is crucial in all situations of unnatural death. In situations of

natural mass catastrophes like earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, floods, Exhumation,
explosion and bomb-blast injuries, or remains retrieved from the sea, rivers, canals, or wells
where bodies can be severely dismembered19, extremely decomposed, or disfigured etc., or
there can be fragmentary remains of body identification can be a difficult task.20. For the benefit
of the decedent's family as well as the medical-legal system, a quick and precise identification
is essential.21

CHARACTERISTICS OF IDENTIFICATION
Identification of the living relied nearly entirely on personal impressions until the utility of
fingerprints as a technique of identification was recognised. Holding "identification parades"
is still used as part of criminal investigations. The witness or witnesses are asked to identify
one person in the group of people who are roughly the same size, age, look, and build as the
suspect or the accused. As an alternative, the judge can ask a witness to scan the audience to
see if he can spot somebody who looks like the perpetrator. However, it is well known that
personal impressions are inadequate for identifying people.22

17
Supra Note 10
18
Ibid.
19
Modi, J. (2011). A Textbook of Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology. Noida: LexisNexis Butterworths.
20
Supra Note 9.
21
Supra Note 15.
22
Supra Note 14.

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Other living person identification methods include handwriting, movement, voice, etc.
However, these techniques need the assistance of several professionals with adequate expertise.
Finger, palm, and toe prints are distinctive forms of identification that may be used for both the
living and the deceased. Photography is a helpful tool for identifying the alive, but it may not
be very helpful for identifying the deceased since characteristics can alter significantly after
death and become emphasised by decomposition.23

Important data for identification includes the following24:

RACE OCCUPATIONAL MARKS

SEX HAND WRITING

ANTHROPOMETRY CLOTHES

DACTYLOGRAPHY PERSONAL ARTICLES

FOOT DEFORMITY PRINTS SPEECH AND VOICES

SCARS DNA FINGER PRINTING

TATTOO MARKS GAIT

Gait is said to be unique to each person since it depends on so many distinct things because
each person is different.25

23
Ibid.
24
Supra Note 10.
25
Supra note 44.

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GAIT: MEANING AND GENESIS

A person may be recognised by their gait, or the way they walk or run, since every person
moves and walks in a manner that is distinctive to them. This is an addition that law
enforcement agencies all over the world are finding useful in identifying offenders. Aristotle
(384–322 BCE) is credited with making the first observations about how people walk in
writing. Further advancement was only accomplished thanks to Giovanni Borelli's experiments
and theories during the renaissance (1608-1679).26

The idea that gait can be used to identify persons is backed up by a lot of research. Shakespeare
makes several allusions to the uniqueness of gait, e.g., in The Tempest27 [Act 4 Scene 1], Ceres
observes “High’st Queen of state, Great Juno comes; I know her by her gait” even more, in
Twelfth Night28 Maria observes of Malviolo “By the colour of his beard, the shape of his leg,
the manner of his gait, …, he shall find himself most pleasingly personated”.29 The
biomechanics literature makes similar observations: “A .. person will perform his .. walking
pattern in a fairly repeatable .. way, sufficiently unique that it is possible to recognize a person
at a distance by their gait”.30

The different ways that people may move, either spontaneously or as a consequence of specific
training, are known as human gaits.31 Human gait is defined as bipedal32, biphasic33 forward
propulsion34 of the centre of gravity of the human body, in which there are alternate sinuous35
movements of different segments of the body with least expenditure of energy. Different limb-
movement patterns, total velocities, forces, kinetic and potential energy cycles, and variations
in the point of contact with the ground specify various gait patterns.

26
Baker R. The history of gait analysis before the advent of modern computers. Gait Posture. 2007 Sep;26(3):331-
42. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2006.10.014. Epub 2007 Feb 15. PMID: 17306979.
27
William Shakespeare · 1611
28
William Shakespeare · 1602
29
Nixon, M. S. and Carter, J. N. (2004) Advances in Automatic Gait Recognition. IEEE Face and Gesture Analysis
2004, FG04. pp. 11-16 .
30
Winter, D. (1991). The Biomechanics and Motor Control of Human Gait. Waterloo: The University of Waterloo
Press.
31
Minetti, A.E. (7 July 1998). "The biomechanics of skipping gaits: a third locomotion paradigm?". Proceedings
of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 265 (1402): 1227–1235. doi:10.1098/rspb.1998.0424. PMC
1689187. PMID 9699315.
32
Bipedal- ‘using two legs for walking’ (oxford dictionary)
33
Biphasic- ‘having two phases’ (oxford dictionary)
34
Propulsion- ‘the action of driving or pushing forwards’ (oxford dictionary)
35
Sinuous- ‘having many curves and turns’ (oxford dictionary)

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Figure 1- GAIT CYCLE

Figure 136 demonstrates the Gait Cycle which is broadly as follows:

• The Stance phase occupies 60% of the gait cycle, during which one leg and foot are
bearing most or all of the bodyweight.

• The Swing phase occupies only 40% of it37, during which the foot is not touching the
walking surface and the bodyweight is borne by the other leg and foot.

• In a complete two-step cycle both feet are in contact with the floor at the same time for
about 25 per cent of the time. This part of the cycle is called the double-support phase.38

The key components of the neurological, musculoskeletal, and cardiorespiratory systems

interact dynamically throughout human gait.39

Biological, habitual, and environmental factors that affect human gait include:

▪ Physical factors: such as person’s height, weight and physique

▪ Intrinsic factors: person’s sex (M/F), age

▪ Extrinsic: clothing, terrain, footwear, etc.

▪ Physiological: proportions of body

36
Gait. (2022, November 10). Physiopedia, . Retrieved 22:37, November 12, 2022 from https://www.physio-
pedia.com/index.php?title=Gait&oldid=320149.
37
Loudon J, et al. The clinical orthopedic assessment guide. 2nd ed. Kansas: Human Kinetics, 2008. p.395-408.
38
Supra note 39.
39
Supra note 39.

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▪ Psychological: emotions affecting the gait, personality type, mood and sociocultural
factors.40

▪ Pathological: diseases that can affect gait like musculoskeletal anomalies, neurological
diseases, psychiatric disorders

Following parameters are considered for the analysis of human gait:

Length of step41,

Length of stride42,

Speed,

Cadence43,

Foot Angle44,

Height and Body movements,

are some of the parameters considered for while analysis of human gait.45,46

Males Females
Step Length (cm) 79 56
Stride Length (cm) 158 132
Cadence (steps/min) 117 (60-132) 117 (60-132)
Foot Angle 7 6

Table 1- MEAN STRIDE ANALYSIS VARIABLES47,48

40
Thakkar, D. (n.d.). Gait Recognition Systems Can Identify You with Your Manner of Walking. Retrieved from
Bayometric: https://www.bayometric.com/gait-recognition-identify-with-manner/
41
Step length is the distance between the point of initial contact of one foot and the point of initial contact of the
opposite foot.
42
Stride length is the distance between successive points of initial contact of the same foot.
43
Cadence or walking rate is calculated in steps per minute.
44
Foot angle or toe out describes an angle between the line of progression and a line drawn between the midpoints
of the calcaneus and the second metatarsal head.
45
Gait. (2002, 02 24). Retrieved from ouhsc:
https://ouhsc.edu/bserdac/dthompso/web/gait/knmatics/stride.htm#:~:text=Step%20length%20is%20the%20dist
ance,contact%20of%20the%20same%20foot
46
Supra note 44.
47
Murray, M.P., Drought, A.B., & Kory, R.C. (1964). Walking patterns of normal men. Journal of Bone & Joint
Surgery, 46A, 335-360.
48
Murray, M.P., Kory, R.C., & Sepic, S.B. (1970). Walking patterns of normal women. Archives of Physical
Medicine and Rehabilation, 51, 637-650.

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Figure 2- STRIDE LENGTH AND STEP LENGTH DESCRIPTION49

Figure 3- FOOT ANGLE 50

Body movements

Walking is a complex process that often starts with the movement of the pelvis. The head is
kept pointed in the direction of travel while the arms move to assist counteract the weight
shifting from side to side. A person's head receives force from the lower limbs, spine, and foot
when their foot makes contact with the ground. The biomechanics of a body's response to such
pressures determines how a person moves. Each person's body moves differently, and this
"signature" of a person's gait adds to the arsenal of forensic techniques,51 so movements of
shoulders, hands, spine and neck are considered.

49
Aggarwal, Abhinandan & Gupta, Rohit & Agarwal, Ravinder. (2018). Design and Development of Integrated
Insole System for Gait Analysis. 1-5. 10.1109/IC3.2018.8530543.
50
Supra note 42.
51
Gait recognition: a useful identification tool. (2018, july 13). Retrieved from City Security:
https://citysecuritymagazine.com/security-management/gait-recognition-identification-tool/

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APPROACHES TO GAIT IDENTIFICATION

• In model-based approach, the parameters studied for identification are as follows:
- Spatial-temporal (step length, step width, walking speed, cycle time)
- Kinematic (joint rotation of the hip, knee and ankle, mean joint angles of the
hip/knee/ankle, and thigh/trunk/foot angles).52

• In appearance-based approach, individual is recognized through gait silhouette

sequences. (A silhouette is the image of a person, animal or object represented as a solid
shape of a single color, usually black, its edges matching the outline of the subject. The
interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the whole is typically presented on a light
background).53

USAGE OF GAIT IN FORENSIC SCIENCE

The general meaning of the word is covered by the somewhat ambiguous definition of gait
provided by the Oxford English Dictionary as the "manner of walking." Many people have a
characteristic stride when they walk, therefore it makes sense to assume that this may help
identify someone.54

In general, it is believed that human gait is a distinctive human quality that is challenging to
imitate or conceal.55 Hence, it is a significant tool of human identification.56
Gait analysis is useful for a variety of purposes, such as:

▪ Identifying a person or persons at a crime scene

▪ Identifying a person before or after an incident

▪ Identifying masked persons

▪ Verifying alibis by a person’s presence/absence at a location

▪ Comparing the effects of drugs/alcohol on gait

52
Supra note 10.
53
Ibid.
54
Forensic gait analysis. (2017). London: The Royal Society.
55
Nambiar A, Bernardino A, Nascimento JC (2019) Gait-based person re-identification: a survey. ACM Comput
Surv (CSUR) 52(2):33
56
Elharrouss, O., Almaadeed, N., Al-Maadeed, S. et al. Gait recognition for person re-identification. J
Supercomput 77, 3653–3672 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-020-03409-5

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▪ Eliminating suspects

▪ Locating and following individuals of interest

Analyzing a person's gait is an extremely effective identifying method. There have been a
number of instances when this method has been beneficial in establishing the connections
between a succession of crimes. It was discovered that the same people were accountable for
the string of crimes when incident CCTV video of the perpetrators was matched to footage of
suspects.57

The first-time gait analysis was used as evidence in a criminal trial in the UK was in the armed
robbery case R v. Saunders58, heard at The Old Bailey Central Criminal Court in London in
2000. Using police surveillance footage in the form of closed-circuit television (CCTV) images
that allegedly displayed the defendant's alleged bow-legged gait, Consultant Podiatrist Haydn
Kelly (UK), testifying as an expert witness, was able to identify jewellery thief John Saunders
(UK) as the person attempting to rob a store. Mr. Kelly was able to prove that less than 5% of
the UK population had walking mechanics identical to the accused thief despite Saunders
wearing two pairs of pants, a mask, and gloves. This information helped stop Saunder's
profitable criminal career.59

Such kind of Gait evidence can be used for two purposes: A suspect may be chosen from a
group of potential suspects using such evidence, or a suspect may be ruled out as a potential
target for future investigation. Even if the admission of such evidence is relatively uncommon
today, it is anticipated to increase as CCTV cameras are installed in more public and private
locations.60

Similarly British Courts in Webb v. Imperial Life Insurance Co.61, Heltsley v. Life & Casualty
Insurance Co.62, Standard Life Accident Insurance Co. v. Jones63 recognised gait as a tool
for human identification.

57
R v. Saunders [2000] VSCA 58.
58
[2000] VSCA 58
59
First use of forensic gait analysis evidence in court. (2000, July 12). Guinness, . Retrieved 04:01., November
13, 2022 from
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-use-of-forensic-gait-analysis-evidence-in-court
60
Supra note 42.
61
216 NC 10 (1939)
62
299 Ky 396 (1945)
63
94 Ala 434 (1891)

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How well can one recognise differences in gait?

Majority of people are convinced that they could identify someone based on their familiarity
with someone with a recognisable stride. However, it is important to keep in mind that
recognition is typically multi-factorial and that people will unconsciously combine information
about a person's gait with other information, such as where they see the person, what they are
wearing, perhaps their size and stature, or the sounds that their shoes or clothing make. The
fact that certain people stand out as having a distinctive gait suggests that most people do not,
it is also important to note. Additionally, familiarity with the subject is a crucial factor to take
into account even if it doesn't usually apply in forensic gait analysis.64

Table 2: Studies cited as evidence that humans can identify people by their gait.65

64
Supra note 42.
65
Ibid.

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JUDICIARY’S STAND ON GAIT IN INDIA

In Thakur Din s/o Jagdeo and Ors. v. State66 on 13 July, 2007, the Court stated that, it is
settled position in law that if persons are known to each other from the manner of walk, talking
and peculiar features of gait, identification is possible.

In Mondal Baskey & Another v. The State of West Bengal67, the Hon’ble High Court of
Calcutta while recognizing gait as a feature for a layman to identify a familiar person held-

“Suggestions were put to PWs 1 and 5 in the cross-examination that they had not been able to
identify the appellants as it was a dark night. However, both PW 1 and PW 5 have stated that
the incident occurred at 11 p.m. and they were able to identify the persons in the moonlight.
The Sessions Court has found from the almanac produced in Court that there was a full moon
on 22nd March, 1989. Therefore, on 28th March, 1989 the moon would have been waning. There
would be sufficient light for a person who is familiar with another to identify him by his
voice, gait and speech.”

In the case of Shyamrao Vishnu Patil v. State of Maharashtra68, reported in 1998 the
Division Bench of the Bombay High Court, by relying on the judgment of the Supreme Court
in the case of Kripal Singh v. State of U.P.69, has held that in case of known persons the
existence of light is not essential for their recognition. A known person can be recognised by
his gait, timber of voice etc.

In Sunder Lal v State of Rajasthan70, on 22.8.1998 a 'Parcha Bayan' of injured Heeralal

(deceased) was recorded by the SHO, wherein it was stated by him that during the night at
about 2 a.m. when he was sleeping in his house, accused Sunderlal inflicted a blow on his head
by Gandasi with the intention to kill him. On the basis of this Parcha Bayan' Police registered
a case for offences under section 448, 307, 323 and 34 IPC. The injured was examined in the

66
Allahabad High Court on 13 July, 2007
67
2014 SCC OnLine Cal 8785
68
Cri.L.J. 3446
69
AIR 1965 SC 712
70
Appeal (Crl.) 690 of 2007

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night itself at about 3 a.m. at Primary Health Centre. The injured succumbed to the injuries at
about 7 a.m. The dying declaration was recorded at 3.45 a.m. on 22.8.1998. It was categorically
stated that he was sleeping in the night. The appellant, came and assaulted him on his head with
the gandasi with the intention of killing him. The dying declaration was treated as the first FIR
when the investigation was taken. The Court stated that,

“the accused and deceased were well known to each other. So, identification by deceased, since
he was seeing him from close quarters, is possible. If persons are known to each other, from
the manner of walk, talking and peculiar features of gait identification is possible. The courts
below have rightly held that deceased could have easily identified the accused persons.”

Similarly, in the case of Dalbir Singh v. State of Haryana71 reported in 200872, the Supreme
Court has held that although it may be difficult in some cases to identify a person in a dark
night but if the person is acquainted and closely related to another, the identification is possible
from the manner of speech, gait, and voice. The evidence in this case reflects that PWs 1 and
5 knew the appellants. Therefore, there was no reason for them to fail to identify the appellants,
especially since it was a moonlit night, albeit, not a night with a full moon.

In Kedar Singh and Ors. v. State of Bihar73, the Hon’ble Supreme Court observed that “It has
also to be observed that even on a full dark night there is never total darkness. There can be
other means to identify another through the shape of his body, clothes, gait, manner of walking
etc. Identification is possible by voice too.”

Recently in Pruthiviraj Jayantibhai Vanol v. Dinesh Dayabhai Vala and Ors.74, the Hon’ble
Supreme Court held-

The criminal jurisprudence developed in this country recognizes that the eye sight capacity of
those who live in rural areas is far better than compared to the town folks. Identification at
night between known persons is acknowledged to be possible by voice, silhouette, shadow,

71
Supreme Court, Appeal (crl.) 426 of 2000
72
AIR SCW 3957
73
1998 SCC (Cri) 907
74
2021 SCC OnLine SC 493

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and gait also. Therefore, we do not find much substance in the submission of the respondents
that identification was not possible in the night to give them the benefit of doubt.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court traced the culprit through their distinguished footprints made due
to limp in his leg, In the case of Pritam Singh and Anr. v. State of Punjab75,

It was observed that in spite of the fact that none of the witnesses of the occurrence nor Pritam
Singh, the driver, had stated anywhere before that Pritam Singh Lohara had a limp in his gait,
the result of the evidence of the trackers was sufficient to establish that one of the culprits made
foot-prints which showed that his way of walking was outwards and he put his right-foot more
outwards than the left. This was quite characteristic of Pritam Singh Lohara by reason of the
limp in his gait and this was further demonstrated by the impressions which he made when he
walked in the District Jail with the shoes given to him there on the sandy patch which was
specially prepared for the purpose. This evidence in regard to Pritam Singh Lohara also was
believed by both the courts below as sufficient to establish his identity as one of the culprits
and we are not prepared to differ from their appreciation of the evidence. The track evidence,
therefore, was a circumstance which was available to the prosecution against Pritam Singh
Fatehpuri and Pritam Singh Lohara.

Gait is also sometimes looked at and considered in cases of identifying the victim and
checking veracity of the alleged offence in cases of rape and other penetrative sexual
assaults.

In the case of Ramchit Rajbhar v. The State of West Bengal76, The Hon’ble Supreme Court
opined that the P.W. 4 (Expert) had given his opinion that after forcible rape, the girl raped
would have limping gait. But in the said case P.W. 4 found the gait of the prosecutrix normal.
But this finding itself cannot demolish the prosecution case.

Gait is also considered in figuring out if a person in question is/was under the influence
of alcohol as alcohol has an impact on a person’s cognitive skills and movements.

75
AIR 1956 SV 415
76
1991 SCC OnLine Cal 444

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But, a person’s drunkenness can’t be identified definitely in the absence of a alcohol test as per

Bachubhai Hassanalli Karyani v. State of Maharashtra77, where in the Hon’ble Supreme

Court held-

“The doctor who examined the appellant, based his conclusion merely on the facts that the
appellant's breath was smelling of alcohol, that his gait was unsteady, that his speech was
incoherent and that his pupils were dilated. No urine test of the appellant was carried out and
although the blood of the appellant was sent for chemical analysis, no report of the analysis
was produced by the prosecution. It seems to us that on this evidence it cannot be definitely
held that the appellant was drunk at the time the accident occurred.”

Recently, in the Case of

Iffco Tokio General Insurance Company Ltd. Webb v. Pearl Beverages Ltd.78,

The Hon’ble Supreme Court while citing various judgements of English Courts like

Webb v. Imperial Life Insurance Co.79, Heltsley v. Life & Casualty Insurance Co.80,
Standard Life Accident Insurance Co. v. Jones81;

Held that “Evidence, if forthcoming, of an unsteady gait, smell of alcohol, the eyes being
congested, apart from, of course, actual consumption of alcohol, either before the
commencement of the driving or even during the process of driving, along with the manner in
which the accident took place, may point to the driver being under the influence of alcohol. It
would be a finding based on the effect of the pleadings and the evidence.”

77
1971 3 SCC 930
78
2021 7 SCC 704
79
216 NC 10 (1939)
80
299 Ky 396 (1945)
81
94 Ala 434 (1891)

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The Court also took into account a Manual for Physicians in National Drug Dependence
Treatment Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi the effects of alcohol
have been stated as under:

and opined “It would thus be seen that in terms of the above referred compilation issued by
AIIMS, if the quantity of alcohol in the blood is 100 or more mg/dl (100 ml), it leads to vision
getting blurred, the gait become unsteady and the coordination gets affected. These changes,
in our opinion, can occur only when someone is already under the influence of alcohol by that
time.”

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CONCLUDING REMARKS

Gait analysis has previously been applied in a wide range of instances and legal frameworks.
As technology is utilised more often, it will be feasible to quickly do analysis and gait
comparisons, as it currently is in certain nations.

Gait recognition is becoming a technique that security service providers and law enforcement
organisations often utilise as their awareness of its value as a forensic tool grows. Although
gait recognition has been and will continue to be beneficial, its most important use may be in
identifying and locating offenders.82 There have been multiple instances when suspects have
admitted guilt based on the forensic gait analysis data that was provided to them, saving a
significant amount of money on the investigation and legal fees.

A new method of gait recognition has been developed where the features of human motion are
automatically obtained/extracted and these traits afterwards allow us to confirm the
identification of the individual in motion. Similar to other methods of pattern recognition, gait
recognition comprises two stages: In the first step, known as the feature extraction stage,
information is collected from human locomotion, and in the next stage, known as the
recognition stage, a typical similarity calculation approach is employed to produce results for
being a match or a mismatch.83 A unique advantage of gait as a biometric is that it offers
potential for recognition at a distance or at low-resolution or when other biometrics might not
be perceivable84.

Although clear variation exists between individuals, research on the discriminative strength of
gait features is limited and not conclusive85. Nevertheless, forensic gait analysis is being used
in criminal trials, mostly based on the congruence between observed gait features of perpetrator
and suspect(s).86

82
Supra note 56.
83
Nahid A Makhdoomi et al 2013 IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. 53 012069
84
S. Yanushkevich, V. Shmerko, A. Stoica, P.Wang, S. Srihari, Introduction to Synthesis in Biometrics,
Center of Excellence for Document Analysis and Recognition, State University of New York at Buffalo,
Amherst, NY, USA.
85
Nixon MS, Bouchrika I, Arbab-Zavar B, et al.. On use of biometrics in forensics: gait and ear. Eur Signal
Process Conf. 2010;44:1655–1659.
86
van Mastrigt NM, Celie K, Mieremet AL, Ruifrok ACC, Geradts Z. Critical review of the use and scientific
basis of forensic gait analysis. Forensic Sci Res. 2018 Oct 9;3(3):183-193. doi: 10.1080/20961790.2018.1503579.
PMID: 30483668; PMCID: PMC6201773.

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