Lok Sabha Approves Criminal Identification Bill That Grants More Power To Police Against Convicts
The opposition has criticised the bill for granting excessive powers to police officers.
The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 was passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday with a voice vote, with 21 MPs cutting across party lines participating in the debate.
The opposition criticised the bill for granting excessive powers to police officers to collect sensitive personal information of individuals.
The bill is short but it is one that will have enormous and long-lasting impact on civil liberties and human rights, Congress MP Manish Tewari said in Parliament.
A similar view was echoed by TMC's Mahua Moitra.
Today, you are bringing in a law which is more intrusive, collects more data than the original law, and has fewer checks and balances and fewer safeguards than even the British era law did.Mahua Moitra, TMC
The government defended the law saying it's aimed at improving the investigation process and increasing the conviction rates.
The short seven-page bill proposes to replace the Identification Of Prisoners Act, 1920 which empowers the police to collect information of convicts and those who've been arrested for offences punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term of over a year.
The bill expands the scope of measurements which can be collected by a police and prison officer. The debate saw criticism of the bill on three main points:
The definition of 'measurements' in the bill that explains what can be collected by the officers.
The power and conditions for collecting measurements by police and prison officers.
Enabling the National Crime Records Bureau to store data for 75 years and share it with law enforcement agencies.
Scope Of Information That Can Be Collected
The 1920 law allows the police to collect finger impressions and footprint impressions of convicts. The bill expands it to include palm-print impressions, photographs, iris and retina scan, physical, biological samples and their analysis, behavioural attributes including signatures and handwriting.
Even before the bill was tabled in the Parliament, critics had called the definition "broad" and "ambiguous".
For example, "behavioural attributes" as measurements may be coercively taken from a person by making use of a compelled psychiatric evaluation. Such evaluation, when it leads to any incriminating admission, would constitute a "testimonial compulsion", Delhi National Law University had said in a report.
An expansive interpretation of ‘behavioural attributes’ could even potentially be understood to include narco-analysis, polygraph tests, or brain mapping, which were prohibited expressly by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Selvi vs State of Karnataka.Project 39A, National Law University, Delhi
BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab pointed out that "measurements" includes not only collection but analysis as well. Including physical biological samples inarguably extends to collection of DNA samples, he pointed out.
In reply, Union Home Minister Amit Shah clarified that the term "measurements" will not include brain mapping or narco-analysis and the government had no intention of including these tests under the definition. "I am saying it on record that it will not happen and we will clarify it in the rules."
Expansion Of Police's Powers
Here, the concern is two-fold.
Lowering of rank of police officers who can collect data. And ambiguity around whose data can be collected.
The 1920 law allows an officer not below the rank of a sub-inspector to collect data. The bill lowers this threshold to say an officer not below the rank of a head constable can collect measurements.
This Bill will make the thanedar – the dreaded thanadar - even more dangerous. It is a virtual carte blanche to the police for sample collection. This new bill is letting police officers not below a head constable and prison officers not below the rank of a head warden to take measurements. So, it is a no-holds-barred threshold.Mahua Moitra, TMC
The Union Home Minister defended the threshold and argued that a head constable gets appointed to his post after years of service. There will be arrangements to ensure proper training for data collection, Shah said.
The second concern relates to ambiguity around whose data can be collected.
The 1920 law allows collection of measurements of an individual convicted or arrested for offences involving a rigorous punishment of one year or more. Magistrates, to aid a criminal investigation, have the power to direct collection from any person who was arrested in the matter.
The bill proposes several dilutions here:
First, measurements can be collected from any person who has been convicted of an offence; even for offences which carry a sentence of less than one year.
Two, persons detained under any preventive detention law can be asked to give measurements.
Three, magistrates can order collection of data from any person, whether arrested or not, to aid an investigation.
The only safeguard in the bill is that such persons can refuse to give biological samples. This exception will not apply if the offence is against a woman, a child, or carries a sentence of at least seven years.
Concerns were raised on the potential chilling effect on people exercising their constitutional rights. DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran argued that the provisions of the law can even allow collection of measurements from people who go to participate in a protest.
How can we be sure this will not be used to profile groups of small citizens who want to go and make a protest for fuel price rise? They can also be arrested. Tomorrow, if people say, price of petrol has gone to Rs 120, gas cylinder price has gone to Rs 1,000, if they go and protest, you might arrest them and start profiling them.Dayanidhi Maran, DMK MP
The Union Home Minister clarified that individuals under preventive detention can refuse to give biological samples. Because, until it is an offence that carries a punishment of at least seven years, an individual can say no.
"If there is a requirement to add some restrictions through rules framed under the Act, we will also explore that option," Shah said.
Retention Of Data For 75 Years
The bill allows the National Crime Records Bureau to collect, store, preserve, process as well as share and disseminate the measurements to any law enforcement agency. The NCRB can do these acts for the purpose of prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of any offence.
The bureau can retain data in digital or electronic form for a period of 75 years. But it has to delete it when the person is acquitted of an offence and has no previous conviction.
Some of the MPs questioned the possibility of sharing the measurements with other agencies at a time when the data protection bill aimed at protecting privacy of individuals is still to see the light of the day.
The fact that samples can be collected and disseminated with other agencies could mean there will be multiple copies of these records, Tewari said.
In a situation where someone is acquitted from courts and then even if they want the deletion of measurements, it will be impossible to extinguish these records in absence of the data protection law.Manish Tewari, Congress MP
Dayanidhi Maran pointed out that the bill allows a magistrate to direct preservation of the data of a person even when they have been acquitted by courts.
The Union Home Minister assured the house that there will be adequate protective mechanisms.
The data will not be shared with anyone. The agency which requires the information will send the request and the reply will only share whether there was a match of the data from their records. The results will be shared and not the entire data.Union Home Minister Amit Shah
The government further argued that the law passes the test laid down by the Supreme Court in the right to privacy judgement.
Ensuring that criminals face punishment is a valid state interest and the bill has been passed by a legislature which is competent to pass the law, the Home Minister said.
The bill will now move to the Rajya Sabha which may consider and debate the proposed law this week.