Understanding the Admissibility of Polygraph Tests in Indian Courts
For many NRIs, the courts may become the last resort to resolve disputes; especially when their legal-situation is urgent. Therefore, it becomes important for NRIs to understand the grounds on which the court accepts or denies certain evidence; often, this procedure is not sufficiently covered by public discourse. Mistaken reliance on hearsay or presumption of what the judge “may” see as evidence can be quite devastating to an NRI. The suffering of an entire family or household may depend on the admissibility of even one bit of evidence; an example is a lie-detection test.
The polygraph test; also known as a lie detector was used by the Indian Police for many years. In 2004 the Indian Supreme Court ordered the states to stop using it. According to National Institute of Health, nearly 70% of the courts in the US now admit polygraph results as evidence. The latest cases that have successfully used the results of a polygraph test internationally are from Canada. In Australia however, a court found a fake polygraph and ordered the questioner and the accused to jail for perjury and conspiracy.
In India, however, the current situation with regard to the admissibility of a polygraph test is rather hazy. The question of whether polygraph tests are admissible in court has been relatively prohibited through the Indian justice system for many decades. The recent example of a successful Canadian case using polygraph results for a false confession however, has raised eyebrows in some Indian legal circles.
The general consensus of polygraph experts is that neither the results nor the results of the questioner can be used as evidence, but there have been exceptions. In certain cases, both the examiner and the exanimatees have been convicted; why has this not happened in India also? There are many theories. One theory is that the evidence of polygraph test results are not admissible under the Evidence Act of India whereas in the US, UK or Canada such evidence is admissible (Dr Raj Narula, 2014). A second theory is that the Indian judicial system could interpret issues in their own way because there is no attempt to have polygraph test evidence internationally agreed to. A third theory is based on cultural assumptions of what is accurate truth and what is not. In this way it is argued polygraph tests are more acceptable in US, UK and Canada than in India (Dr Raj Narula, 2014).
Others argue that the results of the polygraph tests are not accurate enough (Press Trust of India 2017). Others argue the natives in India are not up to speed on their system and availability of the polygraph tests in India (Press Trust of India 2017). It remains to be seen, how much weight will be given to the results of the polygraph tests in Indian Courts, and whether or not it will be ruled admissible or inadmissible until then NRI should function within boundaries that have been created by the Law and Legal Discomfort.
