New Delhi, April 04: The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the Criminal Procedure (Identity) Bill- 2022 by voice vote. The Bill empowers the police to collect biometric information for investigation and identification of the guilty and others.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the Criminal Procedure (Identity) Bill 2022 in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Initiating the discussion on the Bill in the Lok Sabha and replying, the Home Minister said that the Bill will replace the Prisoners Identification Act 1920. The intention of the government is to strengthen the law behind this, try to improve the prisoners after punishment and strengthen the law and order.
He said the Bill would ensure that the police remain two steps ahead of the criminals. The next generation of crimes cannot be tackled with old technologies. Efforts have to be made to take the criminal justice system to the next era.
The issue of human rights was raised during the discussion on the bill on behalf of the opposition. On this, the Home Minister said that those who refer to human rights should also think about the human rights of rape victims. The opposition only cares about rapists, robbers, but the Center is concerned about the human rights of law abiding citizens.
He said doubts are being expressed about the data protection on the bill. He assured the House that the Bill has not been brought for any misuse and there is no scope for misuse of data.
He said that this is the right time to introduce the Bill; otherwise the necessary changes will be delayed.
Earlier, the opposition requested to send the bill to the Standing Committee of Parliament. Congress leader Manish Tewari said that this would give the National Crime Records Bureau the right to collect sample data for 75 years. Without the Data Protection Act, it would be difficult to delete your data if proven innocent of a crime. Civil rights and liberties of this law will also be affected.