CIC directs Delhi Police to provide polygraph reports under RTI

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked Delhi Police to provide information on reports of lie-detector tests conducted by investigative agencies as the same could be disclosed under the RTI Act once the inquiry was complete.

The Delhi Police has been directed by information commissioner Sushma Singh to provide "full report of the polygraph test of suspects" to Captain K S Dadwal who had filed an RTI application in a criminal case.

In its initial reply, Delhi Police had refused to disclose the report, however, later it provided a gist of the report saying the analysis and evaluation of the polygrams did not reveal deceptive responses.

Dadwal approached the CIC, which said that the report could have been refused at the time the information was sought, as the investigations might not have been completed, but since the inquiry was over, the polygraph report could be handed over.

Singh said in her order that since the investigation was over, the respondents were directed to give the full report of the polygraph test of the suspects to the appellant within 15 days.

Lie-detector or polygraph tests measure different parameters of human body such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, breathing rhythms, body temperature and skin conductivity with the subject being asked to respond to a series of questions. The tests work on the theory that false answers would produce distinctive measurements.