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News: Recently, the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 was passed by Parliament. The act has replaced the Identification of Prisoners Act 1920.
How is the passed bill an intrusive and dangerous piece of legislation?
It will lead to forcible collection of personal data, including biometric and genetic data. Therefore, it may violate the right to privacy (Article 19).
It violates Article 20 which envisages the right to silence and avoid self-incrimination
The act enables forcible and intrusive measures such as scans of the iris and retina. Therefore, it violates the “bodily integrity and dignity” envisaged in Article 21.
It may lead to violation of the basic structure of the Constitution laid down in Kesavananda Bharati vs Union of India.
The term “measurement” in the passed bill has been vaguely defined.
It allows any police officer of the rank of head constable and above to take the measurements. They have discretionary power to collect data. Further, In case of refusals to allow collection of data, it could amount to interference in the execution of duty by a public official.
It is applicable to criminal undertrials including those accused of minor offences, and the preventive detention (often applied to political detainees and civil rights activists).
The definition of purpose for which collected data will be used has been vaguely defined in the bill i.e., the purpose is for “investigation and prosecution of crime. It violates the concept of “purpose limitation”. Therefore, it is prone to misuse.
The draft was not published for public comments and feedback. It was not reviewed by a Standing Parliamentary Committee. The Bill was passed without consultation.
There are no safeguards to limit the scope of this Act. Reasons include: (1) The personal data protection law and (2) The DNA Technology Regulation Bill (To govern the collection, use and storage of DNA) has not been enacted in India so far.
Ways Forward
The amendment should be made to limit use of personal data only for a defined, and specific purpose.
The President can return it to reflect associated issues with the govt or the act can be challenged in the Supreme Court.
Source: The post is based on an article “Rethink the bill” published in the Business Standard on 10th April 2022.
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