The Legal Truth about the Lie Detector

Authored by: Aarti Aggarwal

Secret service agents, law officers and espionage recruits have the most fascinating toolboxes (Yes, that’s my love for movies talking). Their occupations center on discovering "the truth" (or a convincing substitute at least) in environments where truth is patchy. So they make use of methods, which attempt to coerce or scare the truth out of those who may possess it. One of the most common interrogation tools in the history of the trade has been the lie detector. Over the years, these machines have helped put people in prison, destroy careers, and possibly even end lives! They are now better known in the industry as the ‘polygraph test’. But can these ‘machines’ actually be used legally in India? Let’s find out…

Help! Some stranger just clicked a picture of me.

Authored by: Astha Singh

If someone takes out a camera/phone and clicks a picture of you, without your consent, can you make sure that he/she has deleted it or determine how they use it? This may come as a surprise, but you have no control over what they do with that photo in most situations. This is true in almost all of Europe, Asia and the Americas. Thankfully, it has some limitations.

Attention Smokers: Know the law!

Authored by: Vasudev Devadasan

If you are a smoker in 2015, it may seem as though the world is against you. In India especially, there is still plenty of social stigma attached to smoking, and the government loves to reinforce this by flashing a pair of diseased lungs in your face every time you are in a theatre. This may or may not change your mind, and that’s a private choice. But when you light a smoke in public, it’s no longer private, and now the cops get to do what they do best, take your money. So what exactly are the rules around public smoking? And does anybody really care?

Encounter Killings- Legitimate means of disbursing justice?

Authored by: Pujita Makani

“‘We've got facts’, they say. But facts aren't everything; at least half the battle consists in how one makes use of them!” 
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment

The prevalence of encounter killings, (an extra judicial killing of an alleged criminal) has plagued the Indian justice system for many years now. What exactly are the justifications to these instances and how are these provisions manipulated by the Police? How has the law evolved to tackle this grave issue?

Myth Busters #1

Myth #1 - Women cannot be arrested in the absence of a female police officer.

Myth #2 - The police can refuse to register an FIR for you.

Myth #3 - An FIR can be filed only in the police station within whose geographical limits the crime took place.

Authored by Dwayne Fernandes

Myth – Women cannot be arrested in the absence of a female police officer.

Busted - We often hear people saying that ‘Women cannot be arrested in the absence of a female police officer’, however this statement is true, but just to a point. If a woman is charged for a cognizable offence, she is liable to be arrested. So what is done when there is no female police officer present?