Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured that the biometric data of political workers detained during agitations will not be collected by the police under a new law. The assurance came after several Opposition leaders expressed concerns over the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill which was cleared by the Parliament on Wednesday. The Bill seeks to empower police to obtain physical and biological samples of convicts and those accused of crimes.
Several opposition parties slammed as "unconstitutional" and "draconian" the bill and claimed it could be misused, according to a PTI report. Taking part in the discussion on the bill moved in the Rajya Sabha by Shah, Congress leader P Chidambaram and other opposition members favoured sending the legislation to a select committee for further deliberations, but the demand was rejected.
The bill was passed by a voice vote after Shah sought to allay concerns raised by the Opposition, which claimed the draft law was "draconian".
The Lok Sabha had passed the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022, which replaces the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920, on Monday. The legislation will now be forwarded to the President for approval before it becomes law.
"Under section 3, the government of India has the right to make rules. We will define it and ensure that no person involved in a political agitation has to give (physical and biometric) measurements only for political agitation. But, if a political leader is arrested in a criminal case, then he will have to be at par with a citizen," Shah said.
He said no measurements will be taken of any political person for violation of prohibitory orders promulgated by police.
While replying to a debate on the bill, Shah underlined the legislation is aimed at improving the conviction rate. "It is aimed at building capacity for the police and forensic teams," he said, adding the measure was intended to preclude the use of third degree methods (custodial torture) and making available the benefits of science and technology to prosecuting agencies.
Shah deplored none of the members rose to say conviction rates in the country are low and should be increased. According to the minister, 66 out of 100 people charged with murder and 70 of 100 arraigned for dacoity get acquitted.
Shah said the bill has been brought to ensure that police and investigators remain two steps ahead of criminals. "I want to assure you that this is not going to violate the privacy of anyone," Shah said, seeking to assuage the concerns of opposition MPs.
The data collected will be completely secure, he said. "No provision of this bill permits performing narco analysis, polygraph test and brain mapping of any prisoner," the HM added.
With PTI Inputs
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