Delhi High Court Reserves Order On PIL Demanding Complainants Be Asked About Willingness To Undergo Narco Analysis, Polygraph Test

The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved its decision on a public interest litigation seeking directions on the Delhi Police to ask the complainants if they are willing to undergo scientific tests like Narco Analysis and Brain Mapping during the investigation to prove the allegations, to control “fake cases.”

"We are not lawmakers," said the division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad, adding that it will pass appropriate orders on the plea moved by advocate and BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.

Upadhyay’s plea also seeks a direction on the Police to ask the accused if they are willing to undergo such scientific tests to prove the innocence and record statement in the chargesheet, in order to “reduce police investigation time and precious judicial time.”

A direction is also sought on the Law Commission of India to examine the “best practices of developed countries” and prepare a detailed report to control “fake cases.”

As Upadhyay was pressing his prayers during the hearing today, Chief Justice Sharma orally remarked:

“Mazak thodi hai. CrPC hai sahab (It is not a joke. It is CrPC). Kaha likha hua hai ki ek vakya (sentence) aur puch skte hai? We won’t go beyond CrPC. Please show us that this is mandatory provision in CrPC that the police is required to ask [the complainant]? We are not lawmakers.”

In his plea, Upadhyay has contended that narco-analysis does not amount to compulsion as it is a mere process of extracting information through disinhibition.

“Petitioner submits that one can seek protection under Article 20(3) when he is charged with an offense and forced to be a witness against himself but recording her statement “whether she is willing to undergo Narco Analysis, Polygraphy and Brain mapping test to prove her allegation or innocence” won’t offend Article 20(3),” the plea states.

The respondents in the plea are Union Ministries of Home Affairs and Law & Justice; Delhi Government, Delhi Police, Central Bureau of Investigation and Law Commission of India.

Title: Aswini Kumar Upadhyay v. Union of India & Ors.