SC defers hearing on Paul's special leave petition

GUWAHATI: The Supreme Court has deferred the hearing on APSC cash-for-job scam key accused Rakesh Paul's special leave petition (SLP) till May 17, said special public prosecutor in the case Bijon Mahajan.
The SLP move was considered as the last resort for Paul as his bail pleas were rejected by the Gauhati high court twice.
Meanwhile, the special judges' court here also deferred the hearing on Dispur Police's plea to conduct a narco and polygraph test on Paul till May 20.Police said they want to conduct the tests to ascertain the truth behind Paul's statements. A narco-analysis test is a controlled administration of intravenous hypnotic medications called truth drugs on a suspect to procure vital information. Similarly, polygraph, popularly known as lie detector, is an instrument that measures and records several physiological indices such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, breathing rhythms and skin conductivity while a suspect is asked a series of questions. "However, these tests are allowed to be conducted only when the latter gives consent," a source said.
After the special court here allowed state police to conduct a joint interrogation of Paul and three Assam Civil Service (ACS) officers arrested recently in the case, Paul complained of sickness. However, medical tests couldn't detect any ailments.
During interrogation, the three ACS officials reportedly revealed names of Paul's close aides who worked as middlemen in fixing APSC selections against hefty payments. "More answer scripts are undergoing forensic and handwriting tests. There are chances of more arrests of civil servants and police officials who were selected through illegal ways," a source said.