Selvi V State of Karnataka
Definition
A 2010 decision of the Supreme Court of India in which a three-judge bench held unanimously that compulsory administration of narco-analysis, polygraph, and brain-mapping tests violates Articles 20(3) and 21 of the Constitution. The Court held that these tests cannot be performed without the subject's free and informed consent, and that results obtained without consent are inadmissible.
- Court
- Supreme Court of India
- Year
- 2010
- Bench size
- Three-judge bench, unanimous
- Articles invoked
- 20(3) and 21
- Techniques addressed
- Narcoanalysis, polygraph, brain-mapping
Common questions
Why did the Court invoke Article 21 alongside Article 20(3)?+
The Court held that forcibly administering these procedures also violates the right to personal liberty and mental privacy under Article 21, treating involuntary intrusion into a person's mental processes as a bodily and psychological harm, not just a testimonial one.
What must investigators do before administering these tests?+
They must obtain the subject's free, informed, written consent, allow access to a lawyer, and follow the safeguards the Court incorporated from the National Human Rights Commission guidelines, including conducting the test in an accredited facility with medical supervision.
Is this the same case as Selvi v. Karnataka?+
Yes, this is the full case name for the same 2010 Supreme Court decision; both entries refer to the identical ruling, sometimes cited with slightly different formatting of the party names.
Related terms
- Article 20(3) (Indian Constitution)
- The constitutional provision that states no person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against themselves. India's Supreme...
- Brain Electrical Activation Profile (BEAP / P300 Test)
- A method that uses electroencephalography (EEG) to detect the P300 event-related potential, a positive-going brainwave that occurs approximately 300 milliseconds after a...
- Narco-Analysis
- A technique in which a subject is administered a barbiturate or benzodiazepine drug (commonly sodium pentothal or midazolam) to induce a hypnotic...
- Polygraph
- An instrument that simultaneously records multiple physiological channels including blood pressure, respiration rate, galvanic skin response, and sometimes heart rate while the...
- Section 23, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 (Discovery Rule)
- The provision (successor to Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act 1872) under which information given by a person in police custody...