Court denies Delhi gang-rape accused lie detector test

A fast track Delhi court hearing the Dec 16, 2012, gang-rape case Monday dismissed the pleas of two accused seeking permission to undergo lie detector tests and also to subject the victim's male friend to a similar test.

Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna dismissed the applications of Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur for their lie detector test and also their application to conduct polygraph test on the victim's male friend who was with her when she was gang-raped in a moving bus.

The court while referring to a Supreme Court judgment said: "It is pertinent to mention that the trial is at its fag end as 77 witnesses have already been examined and a few witnesses are only left as per the prosecution. Even otherwise polygraph test, admittedly, is a tool of investigation..."

"The judgment (of Supreme Court) do leave a room for the voluntary administration of the impugned techniques but still questions arise as to the use of such test and the stage at which it is to be used."

"Admittedly it is not a stage where more recoveries are to be effected. Rather, the trial is towards its end. Hence, the applications are devoid of merit and are dismissed," the judge added.

The two accused said in their applications that they were innocent.

Defence counsel contended that the gang-raped woman's friend needed to undergo a lie detector test as he was hiding facts.

Special Public Prosecutor Dayan Krishnan opposed their plea and told the court that the result of the lie detector test was an inadmissible evidence even when done with consent.

"A polygraph test is an investigative device and this court is in the midst of a trial wherein 77 witnesses have been examined till date...It is further submitted that a polygraph test is per se inadmissible even when it is done voluntarily and with the consent of accused," Krishnan said.

The 23-year-old woman was brutally tortured and gang-raped in the bus by five men and a juvenile.

The juvenile is facing proceedings before a Juvenile Justice Board, while the four other accused were put up for trial in the fast-track court. One of the accused allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail.