‘Narco analysis test has no evidentiary value’

“The Constitution of India has clearly stated that a person cannot be compelled to be a witness against himself,and therefore,any statement given during the narco analysis test cannot be considered evidence in the constitutional framework of the country,” he said.

Raising a scientific question over the reliability of the test,Dave said there is no scientific evidence to show this test is a foolproof method of getting ‘truth’ from a person undergoing the test. “In fact,studies have shown that sometimes the subject (person undergoing the test) gives false statements during the test,” Dave added.

He said: “If the test was given evidentiary value,the police would harass innocent persons under the garb of tackling terrorism.”

Making reference to the Constitution,he said,“Why do we need an easy way (of giving evidentiary value to narco analysis),which will jeopardise the civil liberty of the people of India?”

He said attempts should be in the direction of widening the scope of the Constitution instead of minimising it by jeopardising the civil liberty.