Why was the Public Interest Litigation moved?
Recently, a Public Interest Litigation has been filed before the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi, with the objective of directing the Law Commission to prepare a thorough report for curbing the filing of fake cases and resultantly, reducing the wastage of the time spent in unnecessary police investigation and judicial proceedings. As it so transpires, the primary reason behind filing this petition emanated from a recent complaint, which was made under the SC/ST Act against a journalist, even though the accused and the complainant were unknown to each other. The said petition filed before the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi seeks to have directions issued to the Police to enquire from the Complainant whether she would be willing to undertake the various scientific tests pertaining to Narco-Analysis, Polygraphy, and Brain Mapping as part and parcel of the investigation, so as to ensure that the charges leveled by the Complainant are correct and further, by virtue of the same, the Complainant would be able to also establish her innocence.
How will these tests work?
The Narco-Analysis test is carried out by a team of trained medical practitioners and other clinical and technical professionals, including a psychiatrist, psychologist, anaesthesiologist, and an audio-videographer, along with the supporting nursing staff. As a matter of procedure, the test involves a forensic psychologist reading and analyzing the test and, pursuant thereto, presenting the report of the said test conducted by way of a video recording duly recorded on a CD. In the event the Courts deem it essential, they may direct a further validation of the said test through brain mapping and a polygraph (lie detector) test. Keeping in view the fact that the entire process is video recorded, and the doctors also provide a report for future evaluation which is likely to be of assistance in the search for additional evidence, would undoubtedly, render these implementations of tests effective.
It is important to take note of the fact that the Petitioner in the said PIL has claimed that the Narco-Analysis would not amount to compulsion as the same is merely a procedure suitable for collecting and obtaining authentic information through disinhibition, and accordingly, the results derived therefrom by way of the video footage captured during the examination is likely to aid in the dissemination of further relevant information.
In several cases, the courts have already approved using various scientific testing for further investigation.
Why is it needed?
It is common knowledge that the judiciary is eternally overburdened with cases. Having regard to the excessive consumption of investigation time put in by law enforcement agencies coupled with the adjudication time spent in the judicial proceedings, a variety of scientific techniques, if adopted, are likely to aid in providing time-efficient remedies and, in addition thereto, the implementation of the same is likely to prevent injustice on account of fake allegations that may be made by a Complainant to settle personal scores against an accused, while also saving the unnecessary consumption of public resources. At this juncture, it becomes imperative to take note of the fact that several countries, including the United States, China, and Singapore, etc., with the evolution in the advancement of technology and availability of numerous methods for aiding justice, in the present times, are commonly employing tests such as Narco-Analysis, Polygraph, and Brain Mapping. However, in India, presently, fake deception detection examinations are employed only under rare circumstances, the employment of which, on a more frequent basis, should ideally be revisited, keeping in view the relatively authentic results that these tests are likely to provide.
In the light of the above stated, from the present standpoint, it would be appropriate to suggest that deploying such scientifically sound methods of inquiry, along with legal backing, is undoubtedly bound to drastically reduce the duration of the time being spent on police investigations and the judicial proceedings and in furtherance of the same. Protection of the right to life, liberty, and dignity can be afforded to thousands of innocent persons who are suffering or are likely to suffer from physical and financial anguish as a result of fake prosecutions against them.
