This article is authored by Kanika Dayma and edited by Mr. Anoop Prakash Awasthi, AOR and Adv. Parthvi Ahuja.
The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act came into force in April, 2022 which allows police officers or prison officers to collect certain identifiable information such as fingerprints, and biological samples, from convicts or those who have been arrested for an offence and authorizes them for taking measurements of convicts and other persons for the purposes of identification and investigation in criminal matters and to preserve records and for matters connected therewith and incidental. It replaced the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920 which was a colonial-era law where a Magistrate may order data to be collected in order to aid the investigation of an offence.
The bill provides the definitions of Police officer, Magistrate, measurements, prescribed and Prison officer. It further presents provisions regarding the collection, storing, preservation of measurements and storing, sharing, dissemination, destruction and disposal of records and the power of the Magistrate to direct a person to give measurements.
The key features of the Criminal Procedure Identification Bill include:
- the type of data that may be collected
- persons from whom such data may be collected
- the authority that may authorize such a collection.
The Bill widens the ambit of data to be collected to include biometrics (fingerprints, palm prints, footprints, iris and retina scan), physical and biological samples (not defined but could include blood, semen, saliva, etc.), and behavioural attributes (signature, handwriting, and could include voice samples). It does not limit the measurements to those required for a specific investigation. For example, the Bill permits taking the handwriting specimen of a person arrested for rash and negligent driving. It also does not specifically prohibit taking DNA samples (which may contain information other than just for determining identity)
