On the 14th day of the second part of the Budget session, the Constitution (SC/ST) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2022, was passed in the Lower House.
The Indian Antarctic Bill was also introduced in the House by Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh.
Today, members will continue with their discussion on promotion of sports in India.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will move The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022, for consideration and passing.
Here are the latest updates:
The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 passed, House adjourned
The Home Minister said that members should not worry at all about the misuse of this Bill, adding that we cannot delay the employment of advanced technologies in the criminal justice system.
Honourable Speaker Om Birla took a voice vote on the Bill and with ‘ayes’ having the majority, the Lok Sabha passed The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, along with its clauses.
Amit Shah talks about the development of forensic science infrastructure
Several members have flagged the lack of forensic facilities while talking about the Bill. In this context, Mr. Shah says that in the seven years after Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister, many forensic science universities were set up. We made the Central Forensic Science Lab in Pune with a budget of ₹62 crore and many others in Bhopal, Guwahati and Kolkata.
Don’t view this Bill in isolation, says Home Minister
“We cannot tackle next-generation crime with old technologies,” says Union Home Minister Amit Shah, adding that the government has taken various steps in this regard, from setting up a Modus Operandi Bureau in the Home Ministry to study crimes to carrying out an exercise to improve the IPC and CrPC.
“That is why I am asking members not to view this Bill in isolation, it is just one of the initiatives we have taken to improve the criminal justice system. There is a need to see this with a holistic view.”
Amit Shah replies to debate on Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill
Home Minister Amit Shah replying to the debate on the Bill, says that 21 majority and opposition parliamentarians spoke on the Criminal Identifciation Bill.
Mr. Shah said that some members worried that this Bill has been brought in to target people of certain religions and minorities, “but the word minorities has not been mentioned anywhere in the Bill.”
“This Bill has been made so that the Police and our law-enforcement agencies are two steps ahead of the criminals and not two steps behind.”
The Home Minister mentioned that a lot of members placed some clauses of the Bill with a view of suspicion. “The government has no such intention or wish in bringing this Bill. I can assure you this much that this Bill has not been brought in for any misuse. We have not left any space for the misuse of data”
“I request those worrying about the human rights of prisoners to all worry about the human rights of those who are harassed by criminals,” Mr. Shah says. If someone rapes a child, murders someone, or robs a person of his/her hard-earned month, do those affected people not have human rights? You are worried about robbers, rapists....but this is the Narendra Modi government; it is our duty to care about the rights of the people who abide by the law.”
“This Bill has been brought in with the sole purpose of increasing the strength of convictions in the country,” the Union Minister says. “This Bill has been brought in to reduce crimes by strengthening convictions and to send a strong message in the society by punishing those who have committed crimes .”
Stating that police are the first responders to crimes in the country, Mr. Shah says that investigations don’t often yield results as the police are unable to prove crimes in courts. He says that Prime Minister Modi has announced the concept of Smart Policing in the country, which among other things, called for equipping and teaming the police with new technologies.
“This bill has been brought in to do just that.”
BJP’s Nishikant Dubey defends the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill
Talking about the point raised by multiple Opposition MPs on the Right to Privacy of prisoners being violated by the Bill, Mr. Dubey asks, “When we are talking about the Right to Privacy, aren’t we defending the convicts?”
“When us Parliamentarians declare our affidavits, we inform about everything from our wealth to our bank accounts to PAN numbers, does Right to Privacy not apply to us? Is there a different law for Parliamentarians and different one for criminals?”
TMC’s Sougata Ray raises questions over the Bill
TMC MP from Dum Dum, Sougata Ray, says there’s no clarity on the words ‘biological samples’ and ‘behavioural attributes’ that will be collected under this Bill.
“This is possibly the first Bill that deviates from the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), under which an officer of the rank of Sub-Inspector can lodge an FIR, but this Bill is trying to give power to head-constables to take measurements.”
“Is it wise to give this power to non-gazetted employees, which has not been done in so many years of independence?” He asks.
The British era law was more liberal than new Bill, says N.K. Premachandran
Rising to oppose the Criminal Identification Bill, RSP MP from Kerala, N.K. Premachandran says that it is unfair on the part of the government that even after a division of the house and the “contentious” nature of this Bill, it is not willing to send it for Parliamentary scrutiny to a Standing or Select committee.
“The right to privacy ensured by the Supreme Court in the Puttaswamy Case (2018) is totally violated and abrogated in this Bill.”
“The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022, seeks to replace the Prisoners Identification Act of 1920. But the 1920 Act of the British government was more liberal than this Bill,” says Mr. Premachandran.
“When we are in a reformed democratic era, we are making the law more rigorous and stringent, giving unfettered authority to the police officials, especially the law enforcement agencies with respect to data collection and analysis, that too at a time when the Data Protection Bill is pending for consideration.”
BSP’s Danish Ali objects to Giriraj Singh wearing BJP symbol and cap
During the debate on the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, BSP MP Danish Ali rises to object to BJP MP and Cabinet Minister Giriraj Signh wearing his party’s symbol and cap in the Parliament, citing Rule 349 (14) of the Lok Sabha which prohibits members from wearing to display any symbol other than the national flag.
Congress’ Gaurav Gogoi says new Bill has a lot of ‘shortcomings’
Talking about the problems already existing in the law-enforcement system, Mr. Gogoi says, “There are high-levels of acquittals, a large number of undertrials not facing their trials and suffering in jails, there is fatigue amonst police officers, they are underpaid and overworked and don’t have the necessary tools. There is so much that you can bring in order to strengthen the arms of the law enforcement agencies, but unfortunately, this goverment always brings bills that can be politicised and used to harrass the its political opponents.”
The Assam MP says this Bill is being brought in at a time when we don’t have a Data Protection Law in place, aside from there being no clarity on database management on the state and central level and the absence of a DNA law.
“When there’s no surrounding ecosystem, questions will come up over this Bill. That is why we are saying don’t rush to bring in this Bill,” he says.
Congress MP from Assam says we cannot tell by just reading a law if it will be good or bad, but we can look at the historic record and behaviour of the government which has used or misused laws and tell whether the law will be put to good use or it will be used to quell the voice of the Opposition.
“This bill is a classic case where the Executive is giving itself more power but the same proportionate power is not given to the legislature.”
“When checks and balances are not there, that is when a democratic state can become an autocratic state,” the Opposition MP remarks. “With the advent of technology and the advent of new tools, our government has much more powers than the government did in 1920 (when the previous version of this Bill was enacted in the British era). With hoards of surveillance technologies, including technologies like Pegasus, this govt has powers like no govt in the past has seen….that is why I express my demand to send this bill to a Parliamentary Standing Committee to be evaluated.”
NCP’s Supriya Sule expresses concern over the Bill
The NCP MP from Maharashtra says that here state is not completely against the Bill but has “concerns” about the Bill.
“The concerns are that this violates Article 20(3) of the Constitution of India, Article 21, it violates the Right to be Forgotten and is a violation of the rights of prisoners,” Ms. Sule says.
On the collection of data of detainees, aside from convicts, that the Bill proposes, she says, “we are presuming that the people are guilty.”
Talking about the words “biological samples and their analysis” in the new Bill and the fear that it could create a passage for narco-analysis and brain mapping, the NCP member says, “Brain-mapping and narco-analysis are not necessarily good acts, it is not always that the truth comes out. You will be saving all such data, you will be misusing such data...I’m not just saying this government, any government in the country can misuse this.”
Talking about selective media leaks that take place, she says that the media sometimes knows more about the inquiry than parliamentarians do, “can you imagine with this kind of information available and the leaks that happen, and no Data Protection law, what can it be? It will be be completely crazy in this country. Peiple will misuse it all the time.”
TMC’s Mahua Moitra says there is fear that the Criminal Identification Bill may be “misused”
“The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act has been misused and today, we have a fear that this Bill itself may be misused,” says TMC MP from West Bengal, Mahua Moitra.
Referring to the Criminal Identification Bill, she says, “This law is being proposed in the absence of any overreaching Data Protection law, which India so desparately needs today.”
Mentioning that this bill was brought in after the repealing of a British-era law, the Krishnanagar MP says, ““How tragic and ironic is it, that a century later, that we have an elected Indian government…who claims to be more nationalistic than any of its predecessors is brining in a law that is more intrusive, that collects more data than the original law and has fewer checks and balances, fewer safeguards than even the British-era law.”
“How tragic and ironic is it, that a century later, that we have an elected Indian government…who claims to be more nationalistic than any of its predecessors is bringing in a law that is more intrusive, that collects more data than the original law and has fewer checks and balances, fewer safeguards than even the British-era law.”
She states that the new bill seeks to authorise police and prison officers to take “measurements” of those who have been arrested, detained or convicted, of any person detained by a judicial or executive magistrate.
She continues: “The keywords here are ‘any person’. The Bill has redefined the term measurement, to allow police to retina and iris scans, finger prints, palm and foot prints, physical and biological samples and even behavioural attributes, which is your signature, handwriting.”
Stating that the original act only required the collection of photographs, fingerprints, and palm prints, the TMC MP says the new Bill has increased its ambit.
This Bill, she says, is allowing the Police and prison officials to collect measurements regardless of the refusal by persons. “This is a violation of fundamental rights. This is going to shut out any dissent. The vagueness and over-breadth of several of its provisions are very concerning,” Ms. Moitra says.
DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran calls the new Bill “anti-people”
Calling the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 “anti-people” and “anti-federal”, DMK MP from Tamil Nadu, Dayanidhi Maran says that government seems to be “cherry-picking” which British-era laws they want to change, “that too, if they feel they (the laws) can terrorise the country”.
Stating the reason behind his remarks, the Opposition MP cites data from the Prison Statistics of India Report, 2020, which says that the total capacity of our prisons is 4,14,033, while the current occupancy is 4,88,511. He states that the Prisons are running at 20% overcapacity. “Out of this, the convicted people are only 1,12,589 and undertrials are 3,71,848, meaning 70% of the prisoners are undertrials.....and preferably for most of them, the punishment for the offenses committed by them would have been petty; they are still overstaying in the jail but our Home Minister is not worried about that.”
Mr. Maran says that the Home Minister had said that by bringing this Bill he will improve the efficiency of the police department and that we will be able to identify the crime within 24 hours, 48 hours, or 56 hours of its occurrence. “It is not that, basically this bill is against the fundamental rights to privacy of a citizen.”
“Are we trying to create a surveillance state?” he asks. “We’ve seen in this present government that there’s a fear which is put amongst the civilians. First of all, the Data Protection Bill is yet to be tabled in this house, before that is tabled, what is the rush for the Home Minister to come with this Bill?”
“This is open-ended, it does not even prescribe any classification on the basis of the gravity of the crime or the nature of the crime by the length of sentence,” he remarks. “Every citizen is entitled to the right to privacy and the thumb impression, signature, everything is being taken; when such records are stored under the guise of investigation, or shared, there are large avenues for abusing the same.”
INC’s Manish Tewari talks about Criminal Identification Bill
After Home Minister Amit Shah’s address while introducing the Bill, Congress MP from Punjab speaks on it.
Talking about the original version of this Bill, Mr. Tiwari said that in the backdrop of the non-cooperation movement, the British Imperialist government was scared, and to threaten and trouble the fighters of our freedom struggle, it had brought in this law in 1920. The intention was to generate a fear in the people that if your fingerprints and photographs are taken and circulated, then you won’t be able to secure a job or start a business. This was a plan of the imperialist government to weaken the freedom struggle of India.
Criticising the new Bill, the opposition MP says, “Today, after 102 years, when the government has done away with that law and brought in a new one, it was being hoped that the new law will be liberal, that it will take into consideration the progress made in terms of human rights in the last century and will keep in mind the global jurisprudence on how even prisoners or conviction should be treated in a humane manner. But the unfortunate thing is, this Bill has not stood up to any of these standards.”
“The new Bill violates Article 14,19,21 and 20(3) enshrined in the constitution,” he says. (Article 14 deals with the Right to Equality, 19 with Freedom of Speech and Expression among other rights and Article 21 deals with Right to Life and Personal Liberty. Article 20(3) says that “no person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself”.)
House takes up for consideration and passing The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022
On March 28, Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra introduced The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 in Lok Sabha. If passed, it will allow police and prison authorities to collect, store for 75 years, and analyse physical and biological samples including retina and iris scans of convicted, arrested and detained persons. At the introduction stage, Opposition members opposed the Bill terming it “unconstitutional” and an attack on privacy.
Home Minister Amit Shah today, introducing the bill assured the house that the Govt only aspired to strengthen law enforcement as well as separate miscreants from the society and giving them a chance for reassimiliation to the mainstream society. The Home Minister said the bill would strengthen collection of evidence and further help the investigation. He told the house that the Ministry held extensive discussion with states before putting forth the bill. Further, they studied criminal laws globally with respect to identification of criminals.
Mr Shah asked the members to not study the bill in isolation but alongside the upcoming Prison Act Manual. “We will be sending this Model version to the states, in which we have added more provisions from the Prison Act,” he said. The Home Minister told the house that the manual would have provision for the rehabilitations of prisoners, their reasimilation into the society, for defining the rights of prison officials and to bring discipline among them, for prison security and for the security of women prisoners, arrangement of sperate and open jails for them.
In his address, the Home Minister stated that when this bill was presented to the house by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, a lot of questions were raised about this bill and various Supreme Court judgements were quoted. A lot of members expressed their concerns about the bill from the angle of human rights and individual freedom. All their concerns are justified, but even their concerns have been taken care of in the bill.
House resumes post-adjournment. K Suresh in the chair.
House is taking up matters under Rule 377.
House adjourned till 2 P.M.
Question Hour concludes. MP Rajendra Agrawal in the chair
House discusses scholarships for SC/ST students
In response to Congress MP K. Suresh question with regards to pendency of central govt scholarships for eligible Scheduled Caste (SC) and Schedule Tribe (ST) students, Education Minister stated that scholarships were disbursed directly through direct benefit transfers (DBTs). He informed the house that as per data available to him, respective states were not releasing the matching grants. The Education Minister told the house that they would disburse the amount the moment states release their share.
He assured the house of ensuring a clean and transparent mechanism and based on direct benefit transfer.
Must appreciate the Indian retail investors and their shock absorbing capacity bought into the Indian markets: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
In response to Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor’s concerns with regards to exiting foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) from the country, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated by their very nature, FPIs and FIIs can be very tempted by interest rates elsewhere and prospects anywhere else. She added that what must be considered is the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI). The Finance Minister told the house that FDI continued during and subsequently thereafter.
She stated that the Indian retail investors deserved appreciation for developing a competent shock absorbing capacity and investing money into the stock markets in India.
Philbhit MP Varun Gandhi asks about Govt’s plans to increase air quality monitoring outside Delhi
The Philbhit MP putting forth that 63 cities of out of 100 categorised as most polluted cities on earth were in India. Stating that 33% of air quality monitors were based in and around Delhi, he asked the Environment Minister to clarify the Govt’s plans to increase air quality monitoring in other parts of the country.
In response, Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav told the house that there were 1,213 air quality instruments operating in 465 cities and 26 rural areas across India. He added they were installed after considering the air quality in the country.
House takes up discussion on GST for Health Insurance
INC MP Benny Behnon and Shiv Sena MP Shrikanth Eknath Shinde asked questions to the Finance Ministry if they would consider granting exemptions with respect to GST on Health Insurance. In response, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhury stated the Govt had reduced the GST on COVID-related medicines and instruments from 12% to 5%. On expanding health insurance coverage, Mr Chaudhury added the Govt has introduced varied insurance schemes under Ayushmann Bharat. He informed of the overall coverage 66% is funded by Central Govt schemes.
Proceedings begin at the lower house. Question Hour in progress
List of Business
1. Union Home Minister Amit Shah to move The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022, for consideration and passing.
2. Further discussion on the need to promote sports in India and steps taken by the Government in this regard.
3. Papers and Reports to be laid on the Table.
4. Question Hour
Day 14 recap
On April 1, 2022, the Constitution (SC/ST) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2022, was passed in the Lok Sabha.
Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said the Bill seeks to include Gond, Dhuria, Nayak, Ojha, Pathari and Rajgond communities living in the districts of Sant Kabir Nagar, Kushinagar, Chandauli and Sant Ravidas Nagar in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Uttar Pradesh.
It also seeks to exclude the Gond community living in these four districts from the list of Scheduled Castes.
The Indian Antarctic Bill was also introduced in the Lok Sabha by Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh amid objections by Opposition to the government enacting laws to govern the icy continent, which they contend was a “no man’s land.” The Bill seeks to extend the application of domestic laws to research stations set up by India in the Antarctic region.
Lok Sabha MPs presented private bills related to issues of public interest like reorganisation of Maharashtra state, amendment in IPC, additional bench of High Court, unemployment allowance under Private Member’s Business.
