HC stays brain mapping on Rahul Mahajan

New Delhi, Jul 20: The Delhi High Court today stayed the lower court's order to conduct brain mapping on Rahul Mahajan in the drug abuse case.

Justice B D Ahmad observed that the petitioner may be allowed the reprieve in view of the arguments by his counsel Ankur Chawla.

Rahul Mahajan, son of slain Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan, on Tuesday moved the High Court against a trial court order allowing the Delhi police's plea for conducting a brain mapping test on him in the drug abuse case.

In the petition, Rahul said the lower court order was an attack on his personal liberty and privacy.

He submitted that the lower court order was unconstitutional and the test had no evidentiary value.

A special court here on June 29 allowed the police plea to conduct the test on Mahajan, although his counsel had opposed the prosecution's request in the lower court on the ground that the test would harm his client.

However, the court dismissed his argument saying that it was a harmless test in which three types of questions were put to an accused and an electroencephalogram of his brain was conducted and no medicine was administered.

As the prosecution had complained that Mahajan was not cooperating in the investigations and had even refused to sign his disclosure statement made to the police as submitted by Chief Public Prosecutor B.S. Joon, it should be given all opportunities under the law to investigate the case and unearth the truth, the order said.

Initially, the prosecution sought permission for conducting narco-analysis also. But, subsequently it withdrew the request for the test.

UNI

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