October 3, 2020 2:54:21 pm
Narcoanalysis laboratory in the Department of origin of the forensic science laboratories of the Director of Bombay in Kalina in Santacruz. (Express photo by Ashish Shankar / File)
A spokesman for the Uttar Pradesh government said on Friday (October 2) that Polygraph tests and narcoanalysis would be carried out. as part of the investigation into the alleged robbery and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit woman by four men from the Thakur caste in Hathras last month.
The spokesperson said that the tests would be carried out on “all the people on the accused and victim side”, in addition to “police officers involved in the case and other people related to the case.”
What are polygraph tests and narcoanalysis?
A polygraph test It is based on the assumption that the physiological responses that are triggered when a person lies are different than they would be otherwise.
Instruments such as heart bracelets or sensitive electrodes are attached to the person, and variables such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, change in sweat gland activity, blood flow, etc., are measured as questions are asked.
A numerical value is assigned to each answer to conclude if the person is telling the truth, is cheating, or is not sure.
A test like this is said to have been first conducted in the 19th century by Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso, who used a machine to measure changes in blood pressure of suspected criminals during interrogations. Subsequently, the American psychologist William Marstron created similar devices in 1914 and the California police officer John Larson in 1921.
Narcoanalysis, on the other hand, involves the injection of a drug, sodium pentothal, which induces a hypnotic or sedated state in which the subject’s imagination is neutralized and it is expected to release truthful information.
The drug, referred to as “truth serum” in this context, was used in larger doses as anesthesia during surgery and is said to have been used during World War II for intelligence operations.
More recently, investigating agencies have tried to use this evidence in the investigation and is sometimes seen as a “softer alternative” to torture or “third degree” to extract the truth from suspects.
However, neither method has been scientifically proven to have a 100% success rate and it remains controversial in the medical field as well.
Can Indian investigators subject the accused to these tests?
In ‘Selvi & Ors vs State of Karnataka & Anr’ (2010), a Supreme Court bench made up of the Chief Justice of India, KG Balakrishnan and Justices RV Raveendran and JM Panchal, ruled that they should not be managed lie detector tests “except on the basis of the consent of the accused.”
Those who volunteer must have access to an attorney, and the police and attorney explain the physical, emotional and legal implications of the test to them, the Bank said.
He said that the ‘Guidelines for the administration of polygraph tests to a defendant’ published by the National Human Rights Commission in 2000 must be strictly followed. The subject’s consent must be registered with a judicial magistrate, the court said.
Test results cannot be considered “confessions” because those in a drug-induced state cannot choose to answer the questions posed to them.
However, any information or material that is later discovered with the help of a voluntary test can be admitted as evidence, the court said.
Therefore, if a defendant reveals the location of a murder weapon in the course of testing, and the police later find the weapon at that location, the defendant’s statement will not be evidence, but the weapon will.
The Court took into consideration international human rights standards, the right to a fair trial, and the right not to self-incriminate under article 20 (3) of the Constitution.
“We must recognize that a forced interference with a person’s mental processes is also an affront to human dignity and freedom, often with serious and long-lasting consequences,” the court said, noting that the state’s claim that the use of Such scientific techniques. Reducing ‘third degree’ methods “is a circular line of reasoning as it seeks to replace one form of inappropriate behavior with another.”
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Are investigators allowed to subject people other than the accused (witnesses, victims, their families) to a criminal investigation through this evidence?
The Supreme Court had said in its order that “no person should be subjected to force to any of the techniques in question, whether in the context of investigation in criminal cases or otherwise”, and extended the same rule to other people who can be tested only if they give their consent.
He had said that forcing a person to undergo these tests amounts to an “unwarranted intrusion on personal liberty”, but had left room for the “voluntary administration” of these techniques if the people gave their consent.
The court examined the scope of Article 20 (3), the right not to incriminate oneself, which states that no accused can be compelled to testify against himself.
He said that while this requires that a person be formally named as the accused, other provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure also extend this protection to witnesses.
With reference to victims, especially of sexual crimes, the Court said that regardless of the need to accelerate the investigation in such cases, a victim of a crime cannot be forced to submit to these tests, since it would be “an unjustified interference mental privacy and could generate a greater stigma for the victim ”.
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In which criminal cases have these tests been used in recent years?
In most cases, investigating agencies request permission for such tests to be conducted on accused or suspects, but rarely on victims or witnesses.
Legal experts say that investigating agencies may present to a court that evidence is sought to aid in its investigation, but an individual’s consent or refusal to submit to the evidence does not reflect innocence or guilt.
More recently, the CBI has attempted to perform these tests on the driver and attendant of the truck that struck the Unnao rape victim in Uttar Pradesh in July last year. He also tried to test a defendant in the Punjab National Bank alleged fraud case, but the court rejected the statement after the defendant did not give his consent.
In May 2017, INX Media founder Indrani Mukerjea, who is facing trial for the alleged murder of her daughter Sheena Bora in 2012, had offered to take the lie detector test, which was rejected by the CBI, stating that they had enough evidence against him.
The polygraph test was also performed on Dr. Rajesh Talwar and Dr. Nupur Talwar, who were accused of killing their daughter Aayushi and helping Hemraj in Noida. Video of the narco analysis test on his mixer, Krishna, had leaked.
The Supreme Court in its ruling warned against such leaks, calling them a “worrying practice.”
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