A CPI-M leader, arrested for the murder of a woman activist opposing the acquisition of land for the car plant at Singur, was produced in a court by the CBI
NEW DELHI: A CPI-M leader, arrested for the murder of a woman activist opposing the acquisition of land for the Tata Motors' car plant at Singur in West Bengal, was on Thursday produced in a court here by the CBI to seek permission to conduct a lie detector test on him.
CPI-M's Singur zonal committee secretary Suhrid Baran Dutta was produced before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kamini Lau, who deferred a decision on allowing a polygraph test on him till tomorrow after he sought more time to agree to such an examination.
"It has been specifically explained to the accused thathe is under no compulsion to submit for the test and the test shall only be carried out if he consents for the same," the court said after Dutta sought a day's time to think over the matter.
Earlier, Dutta's counsel had requested the court to direct the CBI to adhere to guidelines laid down by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for conducting such tests.
He stressed that no lie detector test should beadministered without the consent of the accused. If Dutta volunteered for the test, he should be given access to a lawyer of his choice, the counsel said.
Accusing the CBI of trying to extract an illegal confession from Dutta, the counsel contended that the accused must be told in clear terms that any statement made before the magistrate shall not be "confessional" and will have the status of a statement made to police.
Dutta and CPI-M activist Debu Mallik were arrested on June 30 for the murder of Tapasi Mallik at the site of the Tata Motors' car plant on December 18 last year. They were remanded to CBI custody by a West Bengal court on June 30.
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