[Polity] DNA Profiling Bill: Features,Applications,Criticism

1.

What is DNA profiling?

2.

Why DNA profiling?

3.

Real life Application: Pune Blast

4.

DNA Profiling India vs China+USA?

5.

Salient Features of DNA profiling Bill

6.

Structure

7.

Anti-Arguments

Doesnt increase crime-detection

Misuse for Caste identification

Mistake is possible

Evidence Tempering

8.

Suggestions

9.

Timeline

10.

Mock Questions

What is DNA profiling?

It involves collection of a few skin cells, muscle tissues, a hair root or a tiny amount of blood or saliva etc. body fluids.

Then, DNA strands are extracted from the sample.

DNA profiling is useful for solving crimes, confirming if people are related to each other, paternity testing, identifying dead bodies,
missing persons etc.

Why DNA profiling?

DNA profiling = best method to identify a person.

DNA can be collected from body fluids, hair or even from a wine glass or spoon you just used.

An individual gets 50% of ones DNA from each of ones parents= can be be used to identify parents, siblings and relatives of an
individual.
Can help to trace people who are suspected of committing a crime.

Can exonerate (free) the suspects who are innocent.

An individual punished by the court can demand DNA testing to prove his innocence.

Real life Application: Pune Blast

Delhi police has taken blood samples of Indian Mujahideen operatives of Pune Blast.
On the other side, Pune Police has collected DNA samples from the apartment in Pune where they were living prior to the blast.
Example toothbrushes and shoes used by the operatives and even strands of hair.
This is a common method adopted by the police forces in the US and other countries to prove a suspects involvement in a crime.

DNA Profiling India vs China+USA?

CBI has sent a letter urging Government to pass the DNA profiling bill quickly, citing following reasons:

China

India

Police DNA Laboratories

~280

~6

DNA profiles

~53 lakh DNA profiles

Lolz, yet to pass the bill.

Similarly Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), USA already has ~10 million DNA profiles.

Salient Features of DNA profiling Bill

provides for a national database of DNA profiles.

ThisDNA database will be used for

1.

crime detection

2.

as an evidence in judicial proceedings for admissibility of evidence

Bill legalises collection and analysis of the DNA samples

for

DNA profiling in cases related to

1.

Repeat offenders,

1.

murder

2.

suspects,

2.

miscarriage (abortion),

3.

missing persons,

3.

dowry deaths

4.

4.

unknown deceased persons

5.

volunteers for forensic purposes.

5.

sexual assault
paternity suits (like N.D.Tewari)
etc.

Using these profiles, Bill creates indexes within every databank including: crime scene indexes, suspects index, offenders index,
missing persons index, unknown deceased persons index, volunteers index etc. This will help searching particular entery very quickly.

The DNA profile of an individual will be deleted if that person were to be acquitted after the trial.

DNA profiles can be shared with other countries for cases related to terrorism, narcotics, illegal human organ sale etc.

Structure
The Bill establishes following organizations:

DNA Profiling Board

@National and State levels.

National DNA Data Bank

To laydown laboratory standards

procedures for collection analysis of DNA samples etc.

Will be headed by molecular biologists+ members from legal,

police, biology etc fields.

State DNA labs will collect samples and feed the data to National
DNA Database= can be accessed anywhere. Help to solve inter-state
crime.

Anti-Arguments
While the DNA profiling bill aims to modernize the crime detection and conviction, the experts give following arguments against the bill.

Doesnt increase crime-detection

When UK police created DNA database, did not help to solve more crimes, despite millions of profiles being added to the database.

Misuse for Caste identification

DNA can reveal very personal information about an individual, including medical history, family history and location.

This database could be used to create DNA databases of different caste populations of India.

The Working group of 11th Five Year plan said DNA profiling technology could be used to study Human population of different
castes in India.

Assumption

caste is an immutable genetic trait.

Problem

It ignores the fact that individuals change their caste and that caste is not uniformly passed
on in marriage.

Misuse

the experts and NGOs fear that in long term, such caste DNA database could be
misused, for example

1.
2.

3.
4.

5.

Asking every person for DNA test, before granting him/her caste certificates.
Instead of conventional population survey, Government could use DNA profiles for Extrapolating statistics and then
increase/decrease reservation for a particular category in particular state.
Excluding a particular caste or a group of people from reservation benefits.
Screening potential suspects on basis of caste. Can be used to brand certain individuals and communities as people with
criminal traits, just like Britishers had branded certain tribes of Northern and Central India as criminal tribes in past.
knowledge of an individuals exact social background can damage the institution of an arranged marriage.
Furthermore, using caste for forensic purposes and to develop DNA databases could far too easily be abused and result in the
profiling of individuals, and identification errors.

Mistake is possible

Assumption

DNA evidence is infallible (100% full proof)

Problem

Bill ignores the possibility of false matches, cross-contamination, and laboratory error.

For example

1.

Aarushi murder
case

forensic expert who testified failed to remember which samples were

collected at the scene of the crime!

French diplomat
rape case

DNA report came out with both negative and positive results!

Abhishek rape case

DNA sample had to be reanalysed after initial analysis did not prove
conclusive.

Yet the Bill does not mandate a set of best practices that could help in minimising these errors.

Evidence Tempering

Ideally court order should be necessary if a private citizen wishes to see the DNA database.

But here, the DNA Data Bank Manager is empowered to grant access to any person or Government agency that he considers
appropriate!

This can lead to tampering of evidence in case of high profile cases involving VVIP criminals and politicians. Thus leading to
conviction of innocent person and or exoneration of real criminal.

Although DNA Profiling Bill, provides penalties for misuse of data : jail up to three years and a fine of up to 10,000.

Suggestions

DNA profiling should be done only for serious crimes and not minor offenses.

Destruction of DNA samples once a DNA profile is created.

Clearly defining when a court order is needed to collect DNA samples,

defining when consent is required and is not required from the individual for a DNA sample to be taken

ensuring that the individual has a right of appeal.

Timeline

2007

2010

draft Human DNA Profiling Bill was made public

but it had many shortcomings, led to lot of opposition from NGOs, activists etc. hence
this bill was never introduced in parliament.

Then Govt. asked Department of Biotechnology + Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and
Diagnostics (CDFD) Hyderabad, to update the 2007 Bill.

Tamil Nadu State Governmnt sought to amend the Prisoners Identification Act 1920 to
allow for the establishment of a prisoners DNA database

DNA data bank for armed forces personnel is setup. Itll help identification of
mutiliated dead bodies during war etc. This is unique as so far only USA and Israel have
such facilities.

Uttar Pradesh government ordered mandatory sampling for DNA fingerprinting of

dead bodies.

2012

Feb
2012

New version of bill leaked.Bill is sent to various ministries for their comment and feedback.

Dec
2012

CBI writes letter to Government, to quickly pass this bill.

Mock Questions

1.

What is DNA profiling? List its applications. (12 marks)

2.

Write a note on the Salient features of Draft DNA profiling Bill. (10 marks)

3.

Ethical issues involved in DNA profiling. What is your personal view on them? (Interview).