On April 18, 2022, the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 has received President’s assent in order to authorise the law enforcement agencies for taking measurements of convicts and other persons for the purposes of identification and investigation in criminal matters and to preserve records. It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
Key points:
- Any person in the following cases shall allow his measurement to be taken by a police officer or a prison officer in such manner as may be prescribed by the Central Government or the State Government,
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- convicted of an offence punishable under any law for the time being in force; or
- ordered to give security for his good behaviour or maintaining peace under section 117 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 for a proceeding under section 107 or section 108 or section 109 or section 110 of the said Code;
- arrested in connection with an offence punishable under any law for the time being in force or detained under any preventive detention law,
Provided that any person arrested for an offence committed under any law for the time being in force (except for an offence committed against a woman or a child or for any offence punishable with imprisonment for a period not less than seven years) may not be obliged to allow taking of his biological samples under the provisions of this section.
- The National Crime Records Bureau shall, in the interest of prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of any offence under any law for the time being in force collect the record of measurements from State Government or Union territory Administration or any other law enforcement agencies; store, preserve and destroy the record of measurements at national level; process such record with relevant crime and criminal records; and share and disseminate such records with any law enforcement agency, in such manner as may be prescribed.
- The record of measurements shall be retained in digital or electronic form for a period of seventy-five years from the date of collection of such measurement.
For more details, read our previous stories on the Bill