St. Xavier's College (Autonomous), Kolkata
Established in 1860
Author : Allen David Simon
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By: Allen David Simon, Third Year (PLSA), Roll No. 0123
While the repeal of a colonial law and its replacement by an updated, indigenous legislation is good cause for euphoria amongst the Indian public, the swift substitution of the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920 with the proposed Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 prompts reason for grave concern. A hammer might have been replaced with a wrecking ball.
A tool of state surveillance against the Indian Nationalist Movement in pre-1947 India, the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920 survived independence as an investigative and record keeping sanction in collect identifiable information from convicted criminals; primarily, pictures and handprints. Its replacement has expanded the required “measurements” to include finger, palm and foot impressions, photographs, iris and retina scan, physical, biological sample (including semen and blood), as well as behavioral attributes including signatures and handwriting. This extensive detail of record for any arrestees (in judicial or police custody)or convicts indiscriminately, without regard for the nature of their accusation, goes over and beyond the justification by the government to employ the act. The Act simply super cedes the reasonable limits to its clientele to empower any police or prison officer, as authorized by an executive or judicial magistrate, to seek such “security” from both a convict murderer and an arrested pickpocket. The missing limitations in the Act hides behind layers of unanswered provisos to empower the coercive and surveillance arms of the police.
Author : Allen David Simon
Category :
Tags :
By: Allen David Simon, Third Year (PLSA), Roll No. 0123
While the repeal of a colonial law and its replacement by an updated, indigenous legislation is good cause for euphoria amongst the Indian public, the swift substitution of the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920 with the proposed Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 prompts reason for grave concern. A hammer might have been replaced with a wrecking ball.
A tool of state surveillance against the Indian Nationalist Movement in pre-1947 India, the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920 survived independence as an investigative and record keeping sanction in collect identifiable information from convicted criminals; primarily, pictures and handprints. Its replacement has expanded the required “measurements” to include finger, palm and foot impressions, photographs, iris and retina scan, physical, biological sample (including semen and blood), as well as behavioral attributes including signatures and handwriting. This extensive detail of record for any arrestees (in judicial or police custody)or convicts indiscriminately, without regard for the nature of their accusation, goes over and beyond the justification by the government to employ the act. The Act simply super cedes the reasonable limits to its clientele to empower any police or prison officer, as authorized by an executive or judicial magistrate, to seek such “security” from both a convict murderer and an arrested pickpocket. The missing limitations in the Act hides behind layers of unanswered provisos to empower the coercive and surveillance arms of the police.