The
most exhausting/frustrating and laborious part of a criminal investigation for
agencies like CBI or FBI is extracting information from an uncooperative
alleged accused and suspects by investigators in India as well as abroad. No
individual should be forcibly subjected to any of these techniques/method of
interrogation in question, whether in the context of investigation in any
criminal cases or otherwise. The narcoanalysis test began to be used with the
presumption that it provides a simple, nonviolent method of finding out the
truth. In a world where until quite recently, torture was employed in criminal
cases, perhaps narcoanalysis is a simple, civilized way of conducting criminal
investigation
·
The Supreme Court of India said that the
so–called narcoanalysis, brain mapping and polygraph tests cannot be conducted
on any person without their consent.
·
The Apex Court further said the
confession of guilt during the course of the tests cannot be treated as
evidence in court.
·
The results of narco test provided clues
and did not have any evidentiary value. There is no scientific literature to
prove that truth serum works; human rights groups have held the tests to be
mental torture.
·
"The compulsory administration of
any of these techniques is an unjustified intrusion into the mental privacy of
an individual. It would also amount to ‘cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment’
with regard to the language of evolving international human rights norms,"
said a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices R V
Raveendran and J M Panchal. The police, instead of collecting real evidence,
relied on these tests to spread rumors about the suspect, and selective leaks
were made to the media that a particular suspect has made confession during the
tests."
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