Mumbai: Mumbai High Court today (Jan 2, 2004) restrained the Special Investigating Team (SIT) probing the fake stamp paper scam from subjecting accused Dilip Kamath to scientific tests till January 6 and adjourned until then his petition challenging such methods of investigation.

Kamath, suspended assistant police inspector, has challenged a Special Court's order which allowed SIT to conduct P-300 brain-fingerprinting, lie-detector and narco-analysis tests on him and eight other accused including prime accused Abdul Karim Telgi.

He is the third accused to challenge the SIT action of performing scientific tests on the accused. The other two are Ramachandra Rama Reddy, suspended officer of Nasik Security Press and sitting MLA Anil Gote.

Hearing Kamath's petition, Justice V M Kanade observed that the High Court had earlier posted to January 6 similar petitions filed by co-accused Reddy and Gote. As Kamath's petition was on the same lines, it would be tagged on to their petitions and heard by a Division Bench.

Defence lawyer V V Purwant appeared for Kamath while Raja Thakre and A M Chimalkar represented the prosecution.

Earlier, the High Court had allowed SIT to perform scientific tests on Telgi but restrained it from subjecting Reddy and Gote to such tests until their petitions challenging the December 15 order of a Special Court in this regard were heard and disposed of.

Telgi had undergone the lie-detector test at a forensic lab at Bangalore on December 19.

Kamath argued that these tests involved injecting chemicals in the body and the accused could not be forced to take them. His petition said the tests were violative of the Constitution which laid down that an accused could not be forced to become a witness against himself.

The court had ordered tests on Telgi, Gote, Reddy, Kamath Anil Shah, Manoj Mehta, Abdul Azim Telgi, Abdul Rashid Kulkarni and Dattatreya Dal.