Criminal procedure bill will defend human rights of law-abiding Indian citizens, strengthen internal security: Amit Shah

New Delhi: The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill will ensure that police and investigators remain two steps ahead of criminals, Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday, urging the Opposition to not have any apprehensions over the draft law.

Replying to a discussion on the bill in the Lok Sabha, he said the Opposition members raising human rights concerns must also show concerns over the human rights of those targeted by criminals.

The bill will act as a defender of human rights of crores of law-abiding citizens, he said. Referring to concerns of some Opposition members over the misuse of data collected under the proposed law, Shah said the world is using database and "we too will have to use it", moving ahead with time.

The database has been in use for two-and-a-half years to solve crimes, including automobile thefts, he said. Shah said data will be stored in protected hardware and those "who send samples (for matching) will be sent results and data will not be shared".

He said the bill has been brought in to ensure that police and investigators remain two steps ahead of criminals. There should be no apprehensions, he added. Next-generation crimes cannot be tackled with old techniques, he said. "We have to try to take the criminal justice system to the next era," Shah added.

Asserting that the BJP does not indulge in vote-bank politics, he said the Prevention of Terrorism Act was a law in the national interest and was repealed for the sake of "appeasement".