It is important that state-of-the-art technologies are used in the criminal justice system, but this must be done without infringing constitutional rights. That is the key message of a report by a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science, Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change. The committee has underlined that the government must assuage apprehensions over the use of the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Bill, 2019, including those related to the creation of a national database of genetic profiles gathered at crime scenes. Its report, tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, points to the need for creating “an enabling ecosystem to ensure that such profiling is done according to the letter and spirit of the Constitution”. That will require a thorough deliberation in Parliament on a range of issues.
Flakes of skin, strands of hair, drops of blood and saliva contain genetic material that is unique to an individual. Prosecution agencies in several parts of the world use such information to detect crime. But all footprints at a crime scene might not be of those associated with the incident. There is apprehension, therefore, that the DNA repository proposed by the Bill could end up bundling information of people who have nothing to do with the crime being investigated. Such concerns are not unfounded given the lack of infrastructure for conducting DNA tests in the country — as the committee notes, the labs in the country can fulfil only 2-3 per cent of the country’s DNA profiling requirement. In fact, in Rajiv Singh v. State of Bihar (2011), the Supreme Court had dismissed improperly analysed DNA evidence.
