On Tue, Jan 17, 2006 at 11:39 AM, Thaths <[email protected]> wrote: > This just in: > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4620526.stm > > "A court in India's financial capital, Mumbai, has sentenced a man > found guilty of faking government stamp papers to 10 years in prison. > > Abdul Karim Telgi was found guilty of conspiracy, cheating and > counterfeiting stamp papers last week. > > The $650m fraud was discovered in 2002 and is said to be the biggest > in India's history. "
And now the Supreme Court of India says "narco analysis" is " unwarranted intrusion of personal liberty": http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j40UwO8liPFoZwVF6BDezyWlgBxA "India court bans truth drugs, lie detectors (AFP) – 2 hours ago NEW DELHI — India's Supreme Court on Wednesday banned police and intelligence officials from forcing suspects to take "truth drugs" and lie detector tests during investigations to extract information. Law enforcement agencies in India have recently relied on the tests, including in the 2006 "House of Horrors" case in which 21 people were murdered in the New Delhi suburb of Noida. "No individual can be forced and subjected to such techniques involuntarily," the judges said according to the Press Trust of India news agency. "It amounts to unwarranted intrusion of personal liberty." The judgement, which followed petitions from several accused, was welcomed by many lawyers including Mumbai-based attorney Majeed Memon who said it "protected the constitutional right of personal liberty". Manoj Goel, a lawyer representing one of the petitioners, described the verdict as "a historic judgement and a big boost to human rights." But some police and intelligence officials expressed concern that they would be denied the chance to use essential tools. "These techniques are used the world over," Maxwell Pereira, a former top officer with New Delhi police, told AFP. "The ruling is a major setback for law enforcement agencies." In "truth drug" tests, chemicals such as sodium thiopental are injected into suspects or witnesses, lulling them into a semi-conscious state during which they are questioned. Senior human rights lawyer and activist Colin Gonzalves described "truth drugs" and lie detectors as "a voodoo science, a kind of torture that is grossly misused by the police." "I am glad the Supreme Court has done this. In India we have many instances of people being coerced into saying things, admitting guilt," he told AFP. "These methods generate a form of compelled testimony and our constitution prohibits this." Information gained through the techniques is already inadmissible in Indian courts but Wednesday's ruling states that police cannot use the tests, or investigate any leads provided by them, unless suspects had volunteered. In 2007, police in Noida arrested businessman Monindher Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surinder Koli for the rape and murder of 21 victims. The trial is ongoing and one murder charge has been proved against Koli after using leads from lie detectors." -- "Marge, you being a cop makes you the man! Which makes me the woman... and I have no interest in that, besides wearing the occasional underwear, which as we discussed is strictly a comfort thing." -- Homer J. Simpson Sudhakar Chandra Slacker Without Borders
