Chandra says yes to lie test, editors refuse

Zee Group chairman Subhash Chandra Wednesday agreed to a lie detector test in connection with the R100 crore extortion bid case filed by Congress MP Naveen Jindal's firm.

Zee Group chairman Subhash Chandra Wednesday agreed to a lie detector test in connection with the R100 crore extortion bid case filed by Congress MP Naveen Jindal's firm.

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The two arrested Zee News journalists, Sudhir Chaudhary and Samir Ahluwalia, refused to do so.

The duo, however, agreed to give their voice samples.

Chandra's consent is subject to medical advice by his doctors. He claimed that he was an old man with various ailments and his doctors needed to determine if the test had any health hazards.

"My client can give consent or comment only after taking instructions from his doctors in London and New York. He has no issues or reservations with regard to the lie detection test but because of his health, he wants to seek medical advice," Chandra's counsel Vijay Aggarwal told the court.

Aggarwal said Jindal too should be subjected to a lie detector test to verify his allegations.

Appearing for the two Zee editors, senior counsel RN Mittal said his clients were not ready for the tests as it would amount to forcing them to give self-incriminating evidence.

As per the Supreme Court's order, courts can't insist on such intrusive tests without the consent of the accused. Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Rao asked Chandra to appear before him on Thursday.

The Delhi Police Crime Branch had claimed that there were contradictions in the statements of Chandra and the two Zee editors after they were confronted with each other.

The police had on Monday moved two applications before Metropolitan Magistrate Sudhanshu Kaushik, seeking permission to conduct lie detector tests on the arrested duo and Chandra.

They moved a third application for a voice sample test of the arrested journalists.

Chandra and his son Puneet Goenka, managing director (MD) of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, joined the investigation on Saturday after a sessions court on December 6 had granted them interim protection from arrest till December 14.