[Answered] Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 will help investigation agencies in investigating and solving crimes efficiently. Do you agree with the statement? Give reasons in support of your answer.

The current Identification of Prisoners Act was formed in 1920. This Act provided for the collection of only fingerprints and footprints. The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022, provides a legal framework for investigative agencies to use modern techniques and technologies to solve crimes. It will facilitate collection of sensitive data of individuals by the police and creation of a database that could retain the information for upto 75 years.

How will it be helpful?

• Details using modern technologies: The Act permits the collection of specified details about convicts and other persons including finger impressions, footprint impressions, palm-print impressions, iris and retina scans and other samples such as blood, semen etc. and ensuring accuracy.
• Maintaining authenticity of data: The details collected to be retained in digital or electronic form for 75 years from the date of collection. It may be destroyed in case of persons not been previously convicted or discharged.
• Powers to Magistrate: A Magistrate may direct a person to give details for the purpose of an investigation or proceeding under the CrPC.
• Empowering National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB): The Bill empowers NCRB to collect details about the persons from state governments, union territories, or other law enforcement agencies. Thus, ensuring synergy in operation.
• While the police can collect data from any person, only a select category — such as convicts, those under preventive detention, those required to submit a surety bond — can be compelled by the police.

What are the challenges in implementation of the bill?

• The Bill leaves some ambiguity on data collection for minors between 16 to 18 years, who cannot consent to collection of personal data but can be tried for serious offences.
• Blanket provisions – The Bill allows police to collect samples not only from convicts but also those arrested or detained under any preventive detention law.
• Lack of adequate restriction on storage, sharing, or usage of the collected data. For example, the US system have strong protocols in place.
• Violation of fundamental right to privacy as declared by S. Puttaswamy case.
• Violative of Article 20(3) – right against self-incrimination.
• In the absence of a data protection framework, the proposed law raises questions on protecting rights of the data principal and on the risks of profiling.

The proposed bill is a welcoming step as the world has undergone technological and scientific changes and crime and its trend have also changed. But any encroachment on personal space must pass the test of constitutionality as laid down by the Supreme Court. It is important for the state to iron out the looseness and ambiguity in law without delay.