Criminal Procedure ID Bill In Parliament, Seeks To Allow Bio Samples Of Accused To Be Preserved For 75 Yrs

Criminal Procedure Id Bill: The government says that the provisions made in the bill are very important in regard to investigating and preventing crime.

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Criminal Procedure Id Bill: The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha today. The Bill provides for taking biological samples, fingerprints, footprints, and other types of samples for the identification of a convict or accused person. 

The record of the samples collected in this way can be preserved for 75 years. There was strong dissent from the entire opposition to the introduction of this bill on the basis of violation of the fundamental rights of the people. 

Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni introduced the bill on behalf of the government. Know what are the provisions made in the bill. 

• The body of any convict or person arrested on charges of a sentence or a crime may be measured.
• The measurements will include a person's fingerprint, footprint, a sample of the iris of the eyes, his/her photograph, biological sample such as blood sample, signature, etc.
• These samples can be taken after the Magistrate's order.
• SHO of a police station or any police officer with a rank above that of a head constable and the head warden of the jail will be allowed to take the sample.
• It will be the responsibility of the National Crime Records Bureau to preserve the figures or data obtained from the sample.
• These figures will be preserved for 75 years, after which they will be eliminated.
• However, in the event of completion of the sentence or acquittal of the court, the data can be destroyed earlier.
• The new bill has been introduced to abolish the Identification of Prisoners Act of 1920 and enact a new law.

Provision Is Significant With A View To Investigating And Preventing Crime.

The government says that the provisions made in the bill are very important to investigate and prevent crime. However, as soon as Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni got up to introduce the bill, all the opposition, including the Congress, opposed it vehemently. 

All opposition leaders alleged that the bill was against the fundamental rights and privacy rights given to the people in the Constitution. They also expressed apprehension that on the pretext of taking biological samples, the government would try to collect DNA samples which is against the law.

120 Favours In Support Of Bill

Opposition parties objecting to the introduction of the bill demanded voting in the house, with 120 votes in favour of introducing the bill while 58 against introduction of the bill. 

Earlier, when Ajay Mishra Teni was responding to the opposition's allegations, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury taunted him over the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. To this, Teni said that if there is any case against him, he will retire from politics.