DNA
FINGERPRINTING – SCI & TECH
News: Centre to roll out DNA, face
matching systems at police stations across India
What's
in the news?
●
More than a year after the Criminal
Procedure Identification Act (CrPI) was passed by Parliament, the Centre is all
set to roll out ‘DNA and Face Matching’ systems at 1,300 police stations across
the country.
Key
takeaways:
●
It will be implemented under the Criminal
Procedure Identification Act which was passed in 2022; law enables police and
Central investigating agencies to collect, store and analyse physical and
biological samples, including retina and iris scan of arrested persons.
What
is DNA fingerprinting?
●
It is a technique for identification of an
individual by examining their DNA.
●
DNA, or Deoxyribonucleic acid, is the
basic building block of life. This component in cells contains all the
information about an organism and it also helps transfer the characteristics to
the next generation.
●
The DNA of each individual is composed of
Bases [Adenine (A), Thymine (T), Guanine (G), and Cytosine (C)], Sugar and a
Phosphate. Two bases link to each other using hydrogen bonds to form base
pairs.
●
“Every human has three billion such base
pairs. Though 99.7% of the makeup is similar between any two people; there is a
0.3% difference which accounts to almost 10 million different base pairs.
●
By examining this we can identify the
relation between two people. There is a 50% match between a child and his/her
father or mother. Between siblings it can range anywhere between 25% to 75%.
Monozygotic twins show a 100% match.
Can
DNA fingerprinting be done only with blood samples?
●
Blood, bones, hair with root, saliva,
semen, teeth, and tissue can also be used to study the DNA.
How
is DNA fingerprinting done?
●
The DNA is isolated from the available
sample. Each type of sample has a specific protocol for isolation. The DNA
fragments are then multiplied using a reaction called Polymerase Chain Reaction
(PCR).
●
One small DNA fragment can become a
thousand to million copies. This amplified DNA sample then undergoes a
technique called gel electrophoresis, which splits it into different visible
bands. The band pattern formed by an individual’s DNA is unique. The bands of
two or more DNA samples can then be compared using software.
Applications:
DNA fingerprinting can be
used to resolve disputes of maternity /paternity
Recent
Issues regarding DNA Profiling for Criminal Justice system:
●
In April 2022, the Criminal Procedure
(Identification) Act (CrPI) was passed by Parliament.
●
The Act enables police and central
investigating agencies to collect, store and analyse physical and biological
samples including retina and iris scans of arrested persons.
●
The rules that would govern the Act were
notified in September 2022. However, the Act is yet to be implemented fully as
the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the nodal agency, is still preparing
the guidelines and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to implement the
legislation.
●
The NCRB operates under the Union Ministry
of Home Affairs (MHA).
●
Though the Act and rules do not distinctly
mention collection of DNA samples and face-matching procedures, in subsequent
meetings with State police officials, the NCRB has said that these measures
will be rolled out in around 1,300 locations across the country.
Why
was the legislation brought in?
●
The CrPI Act repealed the British-era
Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920 whose scope was limited to collecting and
recording finger impressions, footprint impressions and photographs of certain
category of convicted persons and impressions of non-convicted persons on the
orders of a Magistrate.
●
The government said the new Act made
provisions for the use of modern techniques to capture and record appropriate
body measurements.
What
is the role of the NCRB?
●
The central body has been entrusted with
the task to “store, process, share, disseminate and destroy records of
measurements.” Impressions taken at any police station will be stored in a
common database maintained by the NCRB. The database could be accessed by
authorised police and prison officials across the country.
●
The NCRB will prescribe the specifications
of the equipments or devices to be used for taking measurements in digital and
physical format, the method of handling and storing measurements by the State
police in a format compatible with the NCRB database and also the information
technology system to be used for taking the measurements.
●
Police and prison officials have been
authorised to take measurements and the Act expanded the scope to also allow
any person skilled in taking the measurements or a registered medical
practitioner or any person authorised to take such measurements.
●
The
records are to be stored for 75 years.
What
is the status on the ground?
●
Police across States have been trained to
record finger impressions through the National Automated Fingerprint
Identification System (NAFIS).
●
However, several police officials said the
iris scanners and devices that would enable capturing of DNA and
facial-recognition systems are yet to be provided.
●
NAFIS, also under the NCRB, is a separate
project that was launched in 2022.
○
It assigns a unique ten-digit National
Fingerprint Number (NFN) to all suspects arrested by the police. State police
have their own fingerprint database.
○
NAFIS integrates the data on a common
platform, enabling the police to run a countrywide search to match fingerprint
impressions lifted from a crime scene.
○
NAFIS workstations are operational in many
States.
What
are the challenges?
●
Issue
of Right to Privacy: violated fundamental rights, including
the right to privacy. With plans to include DNA samples and facial-recognition
technology, questions arose about the protection of such data.
●
Lack
of awareness among police officials:
○
A police officer in Uttar Pradesh said
that though the rules state that measurement of persons detained or arrested
under prohibitory and preventive sections of law are not to be recorded, not
many officers are aware of it.
○
The rule states that unless a person is
booked under prohibitory and preventive sections that are clubbed with other
serious criminal charges, the measurements will not be stored in the system.
●
Complexity
in case of removal of data if it affects innocent:
It takes the onus of destruction and disposal of records of an individual from
the central database in case a person has been falsely implicated in a crime or
has been acquitted by the court. For such a disposal/destruction, the request
will have to be made to the nodal officer.
●
Lack
of Right to be forgotten:
○
The onus for destruction of data in this
75-year time period has also been placed on the people whose data has been
collected.
○
This would impact people from sections of
society who do not have access to the law and would therefore be unable to
apply for deletion.
○
The provision should be read in terms of
the Right to be Forgotten and should not be at the mere discretion of the Nodal
Officer.
○
The type of DNA samples that could be
collected by the police have not been defined yet.
●
Lack
of Skill and equipment:
○
Handing of DNA samples requires proper
training.
○
The storage is also a concern.
●
Lack
of clarity: It is compulsory in offences registered
under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. However,
what is its scope in other crimes such as cheating and snatching is yet to be
spelt out clearly.
●
Chances
of misuse: In meetings with the States, the NCRB has cautioned
against the misuse of the database by ensuring identification and deployment of
appropriate safeguards allowing only designated officials to access the data in
real time.
●
Lack
of Infrastructure: connectivity is a huge problem and police
in smaller States have been unable to fulfil the requirement of secured
Internet lease lines.