Criminal Identification Bill has been passed by President in April 2022. The Bill (or Act)
A. Empowers police to obtain physical and biological samples of convicts and those accused of crimes.
B. Empowers police to order measurement of photographs of a person to aid the investigation of offence.
C. Explains the data to be collected.
D. Provides the data to be stored in a Central database.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → A, C and D only
The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 received the President’s assent in April 2022 and replaced the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920. It allows the police to take “measurements” of convicts, arrested persons and certain others, and sets up a national record of them.
A. Empowers police to obtain physical and biological samples of convicts and those accused of crimes. Correct. The Act widens “measurements” to include physical and biological samples, along with finger and palm prints, iris and retina scans and photographs, of convicts and arrested persons.
B. Empowers police to order measurement of photographs of a person to aid the investigation of offence. Incorrect. The power to order a person to give measurements to aid an investigation lies with a Magistrate, not with the police; the police only take the measurements.
C. Explains the data to be collected. Correct. The Act defines “measurements”, listing each kind of data that may be collected, including behavioural attributes such as signatures and handwriting.
D. Provides the data to be stored in a Central database. Correct. The records are kept in a central database by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), for 75 years.