{"id":28796,"date":"2024-09-02T18:40:13","date_gmt":"2024-09-02T13:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=28796"},"modified":"2024-09-05T16:21:19","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T10:51:19","slug":"legal-validity-of-lie-detector-tests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/02-09-2024\/legal-validity-of-lie-detector-tests","title":{"rendered":"Legal Validity of Lie-Detector Tests\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/ Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted a second round of polygraph tests on seven people, in connection with the rape and murder of a doctor at the R.G. Kar Medical College in Kolkata.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What are deception detection tests?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Deception detection tests (DDTs) are scientific procedures employed to detect probable deception during interrogation.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>These tests include narco-analysis, polygraph tests, and brain mapping.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u00a0Polygraph test<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A polygraph test operates on the presumption that<strong> specific physiological responses are triggered when a person is lying.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The test is administered by attaching instruments like <strong>cardio-cuffs or sensitive electrodes<\/strong> to the suspect to measure variables such as blood pressure, galvanic skin response (a proxy for sweat), breathing and pulse rate.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As questions are posed, each physiological response is assigned a numerical value to determine whether the individual is telling the truth or being deceptive.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Narco-Analysis<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It involves the injection of a drug called <strong>sodium pentothal<\/strong> into the accused, inducing a hypnotic or sedated state.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The assumption is that a subject in such a state is less inhibited and is more likely to divulge information.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Because the drug is thought to weaken the subject\u2019s resolve to lie, it is often referred to as a<strong> \u201ctruth serum.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Brain mapping<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>It measures a subject\u2019s neural activity,<\/strong> specifically brainwaves, using electrodes attached to the face and neck.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It operates on the principle that the brain generates<strong> distinctive brain waves<\/strong> when exposed to familiar stimuli, such as an image or a sound.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Legal validity of test<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Prior to 2010<\/strong>, Indian courts were strongly in favor of these tests. They pitched these \u201cscientific methods of investigation\u201d as a <strong>safer alternative to the custodial violence<\/strong> often used to extract information.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Supreme Court in 2010<\/strong> in the case of <strong>Selvi v. State of Karnataka<\/strong> ruled that no lie detector tests should be administered \u201c<strong>except on the basis of consent of the accused<\/strong>\u201d in accordance with the fundamental right against self-incrimination as enshrined under <strong>Article 20(3) <\/strong>of the Constitution.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Further it was elucidated that a person\u2019s right to make a statement or remain silent is integral to their<strong> right to privacy.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Thus compelling an individual to make a statement would also constitute a violation of <strong>Article 21 <\/strong>of the Constitution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Court also noted that little empirical evidence is present to bolster the argument that these tests provide reliable leads for investigators.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It cautioned that the results of these tests <strong>cannot be regarded as confessions.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>However, if any information or material is subsequently discovered \u201c<strong>with the help of voluntarily administered test results,<\/strong>\u201d such evidence can be admitted in court.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Additionally, it required that the subject\u2019s consent be formally<strong> recorded before a judicial magistrate<\/strong> and that the guidelines set out by the <strong>National Human Rights Commission in 2000<\/strong> for administering these tests be strictly adhered to.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What are the concerns?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In a <strong>2010 <\/strong>paper published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, it was observed that lie-detection techniques have faced a number of criticisms, and their effectiveness in revealing \u201cconcealed knowledge in applied real-world settings\u201d remains uncertain.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It argued the reliability of polygraph tests, pointing out that the <strong>test\u2019s underlying principle is flawed<\/strong>\u2014parameters such as heart rate and blood pressure have not been proven to be uniquely indicative of lying.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Similarly, a <strong>2019 study <\/strong>conducted in the United States flagged high false positive rates and noted that individuals can train themselves to beat a polygraph.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Despite the Supreme Court\u2019s cautionary stance, the administration of these tests continues to be prevalent in India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/is-the-administration-of-lie-detector-tests-legally-valid\/article68568568.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted a second round of polygraph tests on seven people, in connection with the rape and murder of a doctor at the R.G. Kar Medical College in Kolkata.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28796"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28797,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28796\/revisions\/28797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}