HC dismayed over trial court relying on victim’s polygraph test to discharge rape accused
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court has expressed dismay over a trial court suggesting a polygraph test of a complainant woman and discharging the accused in a rape case relying on the result, saying it was against the mandate of law.
The high court said if criminal courts start discharging accused on the basis of a polygraph or lie detector test at the stage of charge itself, a criminal trial, instead of testing the veracity of the statement of the victim or prosecution proving its case beyond reasonable doubt, will be reduced to appreciation of a polygraph test and not the test of the material collected by the prosecution and the statements and testimonies of the victim.
Polygraph tests measure physiological arousal factors of the subject, including heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, perspiration, and skin conductivity, in a bid to broadly ascertain if the person was lying.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma noted with "dismay" that at the time of granting anticipatory bail to the accused, a suggestion was made to the investigating officer by the additional sessions judge that the prosecutrix (complainant woman) be made to undergo polygraph test with a view to testing the genuineness, authenticity and truthfulness of her statement in the rape case even when the charge sheet was not filed.
"The observations of the judge in the order dated March 6, 2019, at the stage of grant of anticipatory bail to the accused, were unwarranted and against the law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court regarding issuance of directions by a court for conducting polygraph test at the stage of hearing of bail applications," the high court said.
The high court was hearing a plea filed by the woman challenging the trial court's order discharging the accused.
The high court set aside the trial court's order to the extent it discharged one of the accused of the alleged offence of rape and two others for alleged offences of voluntarily causing hurt and common intention under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The high court said if courts start relying in a routine manner on polygraph tests, considering them as admissible and reliable at the stage of framing of charge itself, the criminal courts will be failing in their duty in following the laid down principles of criminal trial, its stages and what is to be considered and weighed at what stage.
It said a criminal court has to explore innumerable factors which could affect the truthfulness of testimony of a particular witness as also the accuracy of a particular test at the relevant stage of trial.
The high court said the trial court ignored that it cannot appreciate the authenticity of polygraph test or lie detection test at the stage of charge and that the criminal trial had to be run as per the provisions of CrPC, the Indian Evidence Act and judicial precedents, and could not have been relegated to be concluded summarily on the basis of the polygraph test or its result.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
