New Delhi: A sessions court on Thursday stayed a magisterial court order asking JNU students to tell it whether they wanted to undergo polygraph test in connection with the missing case of university student Najeeb Ahmed.
The nine students, who were issued notices by crime branch inspector Surender Gulia, had moved a plea before the court of the additional sessions judge, Sidharth Sharma. They sought court direction to stay the order passed by chief metropolitan magistrate (CMM) Sumit Dass through their counsel Vishwa Bhushan Arya. Mr Arya argued bef-ore the court that the CMM had no power to direct any person to undergo a lie-detector test or to direct anyone “to record his/her consent or refusal” for polygraph test. He cited the guidelines of the NHRC to stay the CMM’s order.
“Lie-detector tests can be conducted if it is volunteered. But there is a difference between volunteer and being asked to volunteer. The court of learned CMM had no jurisdiction in as much as there is no provision under the Code of Criminal Procedure,” Mr Arya argued.
