Parliament has just passed a dangerous bill 

News: Recently, the Rajya Sabha has passed the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022, just two days after it was passed by the Lok Sabha.

In fact, Maharashtra has become the first state to launch its biometric database of undertrials and convicts.

Such moves are being objected to on account of the violation of the right against self-incrimination guaranteed under Article 20(3) of the Constitution of India.  

What constitutes right against self-incrimination in India? 

In the Kathi Kalu Oghad case (1962), the court held that giving palm impressions or footprints could not be called self-incriminatory. The reason is that such impressions cannot be changed. However, the compulsory extraction of an oral or written statement from the accused are prohibited in the Constitution. 

In 2005, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was amended. It allowed a magistrate to order any person to give their handwriting samples for the purpose of an investigation or proceeding. 

In 2019, the Supreme Court, in Ritesh Sinha v. State of UP Case, ruled that handwriting samples could include voice samples. This would not violate the right against self-incrimination 

What are the issues in the proposed bill? 

The 1962 judgment’s logic used to interpret what would violate the right against self-incrimination is unlikely to apply to technologies in use today. The proposed bill authorizes the agencies to use new and emerging technologies for processing, sharing, and dissemination of data. 

The Bill is vaguely worded. It may lead to new forms of coercion of accused persons. It may lead to new forms of surveillance and the stifling of dissent. 

The new technologies would be used in policing and the criminal justice system. They have new implications for the right against self-incrimination. They will be used to find patterns like one’s personal beliefs or behaviour. In other words, such a pattern of an accused person might be enough to incriminate him. 

The law can lead to unchecked abuse of power by the police. It can lead to harassment of the de-notified tribes’ children, men and women etc. The local police stations have to maintain history sheets of these people as they are labelled as “Habitual Offenders”. 

The new piece of legislation could lead to harassment of a person who is merely alleged of a crime, and not convicted. 

Also, the “measurements” are to be stored at the national level for 75 years. There is no clear procedure outlined for destroying the information. 

The process of digitisation could push the process of criminalisation of oppressed caste communities from the local and state-level to the national level.  

Way Forward 

Parliament must make laws that protect against such blatant attacks on fundamental rights and freedoms, rather than enable them. 

Source: The post is based on an article “Parliament has just passed a dangerous bill” published in the Indian Express on 8th Apr 22.