[Answered] Over the years, the need to amend/update the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920 has been voiced several times. In the light of the statement, discuss, how far the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 will be able to fulfill this need?

The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 provides legal sanction to law enforcement agencies for “taking measurements of convicts and other persons for the purposes of identification and investigation of criminal matters”. It also repeals the existing Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920.

Amended some provisions of the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920:

• Coverage:In Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920, certain persons (minimum 1 year of rigorous imprisonment) were required to give specified details. Now all convicts, arrested persons, as well as persons detained under any preventive detention law are included.
• Quantum of Details: It will now include palm-print impressions; iris and retina scans; behavioural attributes (signature and handwriting); other physical and biological samples.
• Persons authorized to collect details: Under the 1920, Act, details may be collected by police officers who: (a)Are in charge of a police station; (b) Conduct investigation under the CrPC, or (c) Are at least at the rank of a Sub-Inspector.  The 2022, Act permits either a prison officer (not below the rank of Head Warder), or a police officer (in charge of a police station, or at least at the rank of a Head Constable).
• Power to make Rules: The Identification of Prisoners Act vested rule-making power only in the State government.  Now, this power is extended to the Union government as well.

Issues:

• It violates fundamental rights of citizens including the right to privacy.
• The inclusion of derivative data such as “analysis” and “behavioural attributes” have raised concerns that data processing may go beyond recording of core “measurements”.
• The current law allows for “measurements” to be taken if a person has been convicted/arrested for any offence, including petty offences. Such discretion is likely to result in abuse of the law at lower levels and overburdening of the systems used for collection and storage of these “measurements”.
• The option to not submit for “measurements” is limited to biological samples and is available at the discretion of the police officer. Such collection can also result in mass surveillance, with its database being combined with other databases like Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems’ (CCTNS).

The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 is a welcoming step as the world has undergone technological and scientific changes and crime and its trend have also changed. It is important for the state to iron out the looseness and ambiguity in law without delay.