Delhi HC: Complainant cannot compel accused to undergo narco-analysis test

Delhi HC said a complainant cannot compel an accused to undergo narco-analysis without consent, upholding lower court orders in a murder case.

The Delhi high court has held that a complainant has no indefeasible right to compel an unwilling accused to undergo a narco-analysis test, observing that consent is a personal and non-derogable safeguard available to the person subjected to such a test.

The high court held that an accused cannot be compelled to undergo narco-analysis without consent. (PTI) (Representative Image)

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav, in a September 17 verdict, dismissed a petition filed by a man challenging orders rejecting his plea for narco-analysis tests on the accused in connection with the alleged murder of his daughter.

“If... even an accused person cannot claim an indefeasible right to undergo the test on an application moved by himself, it necessarily follows... that no such right, indefeasible or otherwise, can be said to inhere in a complainant seeking to compel an unwilling accused to undergo the test,” the court said.

Dissatisfied with the investigation, the man approached the trial court seeking narco-analysis tests on four accused arrested in the case.

Two accused recorded statements refusing the test.

The trial court dismissed the plea on January 8, proceeding on the basis that all three surviving accused had refused.

The man approached the sessions court, which dismissed his revision petition on March 23, observing that such a request should have been made by the investigating officer.

Before the high court, the man argued that the alleged murder occurred inside a room, making eyewitnesses unlikely, and scientific investigative techniques should therefore be used.

The high court held that an accused cannot be compelled to undergo narco-analysis without consent, and found no illegality, perversity or jurisdictional error in the concurrent court orders.