CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (IDENTIFICATION) ACT 2022

CONTEXT

The Ministry OF Home Affairs notified the rules governing The Criminal procedure (Identification) Act 2022. The act seeks to repeal the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920 which is over 100 years old.

PURPOSE

FLAWS IN PREVIOUS ACT

• The old act's scope was limited to capturing finger impression, footprint impressions and photographs of convicted prisoners and a certain category of arrested and non–convicted persons on the orders of a Magistrate
• The 1920 act does not provide for taking body measurements as many of the techniques and technologies had not been developed then.

NEW LEGISLATION

• The act empowers a Magistrate to direct any person to give measurements, which till now was reserved for convicts and those involved in heinous crimes.
• It also enables the police up to the rank of a Head constable to take measurements of any person who resists or refuses to give measurements.
• Measurements include finger –impressions, palm –print,foot-print, photographs, iris and retina scan, physical , and biological samples and their analysis , and behavioral attributes including signatures , handwriting or any other examination referred to in section 53 or section53 A of the code of Criminal Procedure,1973

CONCERNS OVER BEING MISUSED

• Attack on privacy as it allowed the record of samples of even political detainees
• However, the rules notified the state that samples of those detained under preventive sections such as 107, 108, 109, 110, 144, 145, and 151 of the CrPC shall not be taken unless such person is charged or arrested in connection with any other offense punishable under any other law. It can also be taken if a person has been ordered to give security for his good behavior for maintaining peace under section 117 of the said code for a proceeding under the said sections.

REPOSITORY OF THE DATA

• The National Crime Records Bureau under MHA will be the one-stop agency for storing and preserving the data of arrested persons.
• The state government can also store the data, but it shall provide compatible application programming interfaces for sharing the measurements or records of measurements with the NCRB.
• The rules state that the NCRB will issue Standard Operating Procedure for the collection of measurements which would include specifications of the equipment or devices to be used, specifications and the digital and physical format of the measurements, etc.
• The rules said that in case any measurement is collected in physical form or a non–standard digital format, it shall be converted into standard digital format and thereafter uploaded to the database as per the SOP.
• Only authorized users could upload the measurements to the central database in an encrypted format.

PROVISIONS FOR DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS

• The rules state that any request for destruction of records shall be made to the Nodal officer who is to be nominated by the respective state government.
• The nodal officer will recommend the destruction after verifying that such a record of measurements is not linked with any other criminal cases.

GREY AREAS

• The rules do not mention the procedure to be adopted for convicted persons
• It has not been specified, whether the analysis of biological samples could also include DNA

Prelims & Mains Perspective