Farmers Movement Archive

Address fears over DNA technology bill in Parliament and outside: Panel to govt

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on science and technology has recommended that the government assuage concerns raised over the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019 both in Parliament and outside.While recognising that it’s an important bill for criminal investigation, a number of members who deposed before the Committee have raised fears that the bill could be misused to target different segments of society based on religion, caste or political views.“These fears are not entirely unfounded and have to be recognised and addressed by the Government and by Parliament as well. It does not, however, negate the need for such legislation especially when DNA technology is already in use,” the Committee noted in its report which was tabled in the Parliament on Wednesday. “In fact, its use in recent months has exposed a false encounter in which innocents were killed contradicting initial claims made that they were militants. The Committee is of the strong opinion that an enabling ecosystem must be created soon to ensure that DNA profiling is done in a manner that is fully consistent with the letter and spirit of various Supreme Court judgments and with of the Constitution of India,” the report added.Also Read | Parliament proceedings halted amid protest over farm laws: All you need to knowThe Committee has consulted legal and forensic science experts including members of Internet Freedom Foundation, National Law University, Centre for Internet and Society, Gujarat Forensic Sciences University among others.The main purpose of the bill as per the Department of Biotechnology is to enable identification of missing children and of unidentified deceased individuals including disaster victims; apprehend repeat offenders for heinous crimes (rape, murder, etc.); develop stringent standards, and quality assurance system to grant approval and accreditation to the laboratories undertaking DNA profiling; regulate the use of DNA profiles in establishing identity in criminal and civil proceedings. The bill aims to establish a DNA regulatory board which will advise the Centre and the state governments on establishing of DNA laboratories, DNA data banks and laying down guidelines, standards and procedures for establishment and functioning of such laboratories and data banks.The Department of Biotechnology suggests that the DNA profiles to be stored are not for the entire population but for specified categories of individuals such as convicts and suspects of major crimes, relatives of missing persons (so that their DNA profiles can be compared with profiles of unidentified deceased individuals).The Parliamentary standing committee has recommended that the DNA regulatory board should be independent and not comprise wholly of serving government officials. It has also recommended independent and impartial checks and balances at every stage of the process: each of the police, prosecution and judicial service is independent, which means that there is a clear qualitative check at every stage so that only those cases, where there is a good chance of conviction is taken forward to arrest, charge sheet and then to trial. It also recommends that there should be careful watch on whether DNA evidence collected is legally obtained and no person is forced to provide evidence that may incriminate him/her in any crime.Binoy Viswam, leader of Communist Party of India and member of the standing committee, and Asaduddin Owaisi, member of Parliament and president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, have raised concerns that provisions of the bill will lead to violation of the right to privacy.

Hindustan Times

03-02-2021

India