27 evidence and may only be used for the purpose of helping the investigating agency with the progress of the investigation. 49. It was argued that the Shoeprint Report (Ex. P125) contains contradictory statements, making it unreliable. Further, it did not provide any conclusive material regarding the shoeprints found at the scene of crime and were found to be negative for matches. It was pointed out that for shoeprints obtained by the police, no moulds were made from the available physical prints at the site and instead colour photos of the footprints were obtained. The camera used for taking such photos did not have the time/date, though such features were available. During analysis of colour photos, the photographs were found insufficient to reach any conclusion regarding the footprints in Ex. P118. It was argued that no individual shoe characteristics were found from the prints. The print or design of the soles were missing in the photoprints, and it could not be ascertained if the sole print of the sandal at H3 matched with any print found at the scene of crime. However, inexplicably the report concludes that E8 and E9 are photos identical to H3. The shoeprint said to have been obtained from Neha does not specify whether it is of the right or the left foot. It was submitted that this court in Pritam Singh v. State of Punjab22 and Balbir Singh v. State of Punjab23 found that footprints are a weak and rudimentary evidence. Counsel urged that the evidence led by the prosecution itself is weak and admits that there was insufficient material to conduct the comparison, yet the comparison was carried out as in terms of Ex. P125, the Examination Report, SFSL, Sagar. Further, the seizures relating to the shoeprints were only sent to FSL, Sagar on 13.07.2011- as seen from Ex. P115 - after an unexplained delay. 50. Mr. Singh next argued that the fingerprint report relating to chance prints was not reliable, and at best can only be used as corroborative evidence. In this regard, it was argued that the fingerprints obtained from the crime scene were 22 AIR 1956 SC 415 23 1996 (6) SCALE 72