The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 has been implemented in replacement of the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920, a law that dates back to the colonial era. This legislation allows police officers to collect measurements of individuals who have been convicted, arrested, or are under trial in criminal cases.
The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022
This new act permits the police to obtain physical and biological samples of convicts and those accused of crimes as per the regulations of sections 53 or 53A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973. The data collected can include fingerprint impressions, palm-print impressions, footprint impressions, photographs, and iris and retina scans, along with physical and biological samples, behavioural attributes and their analysis. Individuals detained under any preventive detention law will be required to provide these “measurements” to a police officer or a prison official. The information will be stored by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for up to 75 years, and aims to facilitate a unique identification of those involved with a crime and aid investigating agencies in solving cases.
Why Replace the Previous Act?
The previous legislation saw a review by the 87th Report of the Law Commission of India in 1980, which recommended several changes, particularly in light of the State of UP vs Ram Babu Misra case. The recommendations included expanding the scope of measurements to capture more data and enable better law enforcement investigations. The report noted that with advancements in forensics, there was a need to recognise different kinds of “measurements” that might aid in investigations.
Significance of the Act
The new act brings about several important changes, one of which is the provision for the application of modern techniques to record body measurements. It expands the range of people whose measurements can be captured, thus facilitating law enforcement agencies in collecting sufficient legally permissible evidence to establish a crime. The act also provides legal authorization for obtaining body measurements to enhance the efficiency of crime investigation and increase conviction rates.
Issues with the Law
Despite its benefits, the new legislation has raised some concerns, particularly concerning privacy violations and ambiguous provisions. The act allows the collection of samples not only from convicts but also from ordinary citizens, including protestors engaged in political protests. It significantly broadens the scope and reach of the previous legislation, with the term “biological samples” being open to interpretation and potentially involving invasive procedures such as drawing of blood, collection of DNA samples, narco analysis and brain mapping. Concerns have also been raised about how the collected data will be preserved, shared, disseminated, and destroyed, along with the potential misuse of this information for mass surveillance.
Solution Going Forward
The concern surrounding privacy and data security is undeniably significant. For such practices involving sensitive personal information to be introduced, a robust data protection law with strict penalties for breaches must be in place beforehand. Depriving law enforcement agencies of the use of the latest technologies would be deeply detrimental to victims of crimes as well as to the nation overall. Therefore, better scrutiny measures, data protection laws and improved implementation of the law are necessary. This includes having more experts collect measurements from crime scenes, increasing the number of forensic labs, and providing more equipment for data analysis to identify possible suspects involved in criminal cases.
