On plea against police coercion, CG HC decries forced narco tests

Raipur: On a plea alleging police coercion and forced probe techniques, the Chhattisgarh High Court has directed the investigating agency not to compel or coerce any individual to undergo scientific investigative techniques such as narcoanalysis, polygraph examination or brain mapping tests.A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal on June 29 passed the order while disposing of a petition filed by two suspects from Raigarh district.The petitioners approached the court alleging police coercion and attempts to force them into undergoing forensic diagnostic techniques without their consent in connection with an ongoing case.The court noted that the petitioners were not named in the First Information Report (FIR) registered at Chakradhar Nagar police station under sections 103(1) (punishment for murder) and 238A (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.A police report submitted on June 16, 2026 stated that no evidence had been found against them. The petitioners alleged that they were repeatedly summoned for 18 consecutive days without statutory notices, detained for long hours, made to sign undertakings and pressurised to undergo brain mapping and narcoanalysis tests. They alleged that their mobiles were also seized without a seizure memo.The bench highlighted the Supreme Court judgement in the Selvi case, which held that involuntary administration of such techniques violates the protection against self-incrimination under Article 20(3) and the right to personal liberty and mental privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution.

HC held that such tests may be conducted only with the individual’s voluntary, informed and unequivocal consent. The bench further directed that the consent must be recorded before a competent Judicial Magistrate in strict compliance with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) guidelines.