Criminal identification Bill gets Prez’s assent
President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday gave his assent to the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, which accords sweeping powers to police to collect biometric and physical measurements of people convicted, arrested or detained.
“The following Act of Parliament received the assent of the President on the 18th April, 2022 and is hereby published for general information:- The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 No.11 of 2022,” a gazette notification issued by ministry of law and justice said.
The Act, which replaces the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920, was passed in Lok Sabha on April 4 and Rajya Sabha on April 6.
It seeks to update a British-era law to enable police to collect samples of a person’s biometric details, such as fingerprints and iris scans, if they have been arrested, detained or placed under preventive detention on charges that attract a jail term of seven years or more. The Act also empowers a magistrate to direct any person to give measurements and empowers police or prison officers to take measurements of any person who resists or refuses to give measurements. It empowers the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) to collect, store and preserve these records for 75 years and share it with other agencies.
Resistance or refusal to allow the collection of data is an offence. However, all materials must be destroyed on the acquittal or discharge of the concerned person, according to the new law.
During the debate on the Bill in Parliament earlier this month, Union home minister Amit Shah assured that the data will not be misused after opposition parties termed the new law “draconian” and raised concerns about data breaches and violation of privacy.
In the Lok Sabha, Shah said that rules for the law will be framed after consulting top experts from around the world to make sure there aren’t any privacy concerns. During his address to Rajya Sabha, Shah assured that biometric data of political detainees will not be collected and the proposed law will exclude brain mapping and polygraph test. Every rule formulated by the Centre under this Act will be laid before each house of Parliament, according to Clause 8 (3) of the Act.