Union Home Minister Amit Shah to introduce Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 in Parliament today

NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will introduce the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 in Parliament on Monday (March 28, 2022). The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 is aimed at authorising the police for taking measurements of convicts and other persons for the purposes of identification and investigation in criminal matters and to preserve records.

The new Bill will repeal the existing ''The Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920.'' 

The Bill allows police to collect "finger-impressions, palm-print impressions, footprint impressions, photographs, iris and retina scan, physical, biological samples and their analysis, behavioural attributes including signatures, handwriting or any other examination" referred to in section 53 or section 53A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. 

In the existing law, it is limited to allow for the taking of finger and footprint impressions and for a limited category of convicted and non-convicted persons and photographs on the order of a Magistrate.

As per the provisions of the Bill, any person convicted, arrested or detained under any preventive detention law will be required to provide "measurements" to a police officer or a prison official.

Besides this, the Rajya Sabha is also likely to take up Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2022 (with respect to the State of Jharkhand), the Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022, (with respect to State of Uttar Pradesh), the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment ) Bill, 2022 and the Indian Antarctica Bill, 2022, Mr. Meghwal told the House.

The SC and ST Order Bill, 2022 of Uttar Pradesh seeks to amend the list of reserved category citizens in the State. The Bill that was to be tabled in the first half of the Budget session in February, was stalled by the Election Commission due to the pending Assembly elections then.

(With Agency Inputs)