Explained: Narco Test And Its Admissibility In Court
The UP government has ordered a narco test of the Hathras victim’s family along with the accused as part of the investigation into the alleged gangrape and murder of a 19-year old Dalit woman by four upper-caste men. The victim's kin said on Saturday that they will not undergo a narco test as they are not lying and that DM and SP should get the test done.
What is a narco test and how it works?
Narco test is a lie-detecting technique, which is done to extract the truth from a criminal or an accused person. This test is done in the presence of forensic experts, investigating officers, doctors and psychologists etc. In this test, a person is given a psychoactive drug called "Truth Drug" or injected with "Sodium Pentathol or Sodium Amytal". With the effect of this medicine, the person goes into semi-unconscious state i.e. he is neither fully conscious nor completely unconscious. During this time, the scientist and the doctor ask the questions given by the investigating agency and try to find out the truth from the person. It is believed that in this situation he gives correct answers to the questions because he fails to find a falsehood due to half-heartedness. The process of this test is started when the medicine starts showing its effect. In the beginning, very general questions are asked, such as name, father's name, age, address and family-related information. Then a sudden crime-related question is asked. If the person's heart rate, breath or blood pressure increases on the question and an unusual change in the graph is seen then it means that the person is lying and if the graph shows no changes, then he can speak the truth. It is not always the case that the criminal/accused tells the truth every time in the narco test and the case is resolved. Many times the criminals are more cunning and manage to dodge the team investigating the tests. Consent is also very important in this test. This test cannot be taken without the consent of the person who is to be tested. In 2010, a 3-judge bench comprising KG Balakrishnan ruled that no lie detector tests should be administered without the consent of the person whose narco test or polygraph test. However, it is also necessary for the CBI and other agencies to get the court's permission to take someone's narco test. It is also necessary to conduct a physical test to check whether the person undergoing the narco test is fit or not. If the person is ill, or old or physically and mentally weak, then this test cannot be done.
Narco test is a lie-detecting technique, which is done to extract the truth from a criminal or an accused person. This test is done in the presence of forensic experts, investigating officers, doctors and psychologists etc. In this test, a person is given a psychoactive drug called "Truth Drug" or injected with "Sodium Pentathol or Sodium Amytal". With the effect of this medicine, the person goes into semi-unconscious state i.e. he is neither fully conscious nor completely unconscious. During this time, the scientist and the doctor ask the questions given by the investigating agency and try to find out the truth from the person. It is believed that in this situation he gives correct answers to the questions because he fails to find a falsehood due to half-heartedness. The process of this test is started when the medicine starts showing its effect. In the beginning, very general questions are asked, such as name, father's name, age, address and family-related information. Then a sudden crime-related question is asked. If the person's heart rate, breath or blood pressure increases on the question and an unusual change in the graph is seen then it means that the person is lying and if the graph shows no changes, then he can speak the truth. It is not always the case that the criminal/accused tells the truth every time in the narco test and the case is resolved. Many times the criminals are more cunning and manage to dodge the team investigating the tests. Consent is also very important in this test. This test cannot be taken without the consent of the person who is to be tested. In 2010, a 3-judge bench comprising KG Balakrishnan ruled that no lie detector tests should be administered without the consent of the person whose narco test or polygraph test. However, it is also necessary for the CBI and other agencies to get the court's permission to take someone's narco test. It is also necessary to conduct a physical test to check whether the person undergoing the narco test is fit or not. If the person is ill, or old or physically and mentally weak, then this test cannot be done.
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