The Bill that will pave the way for DNA profiling to identify unclaimed dead bodies will be introduced in the coming Budget Session of Parliament, the Centre informed the Supreme Court on Monday.
Dealing with a PIl filed by NGO lokniti, the court had asked the Centre to explore if DNA profiling of dead bodies can be done as a step to ascertain their identities. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Neeraj Kishan Kaul informed the Court that this will be made possible through a bill titled ‘The Human DNA Profiling Bill’ likely to be introduced in the coming Budget Session subject to approval by Cabinet.
Initially, the bill did not incorporate this provision but was later introduced after an Expert Committee headed by Professor TS Rao recommended the same. The Bill provides for a DNA databank of several categories of persons for purpose of crime detection and investigation of unidentified bodies figuring close to over 40,000.
While this will require a minimum of 400 DNA examiners and a cost of over Rs80 crore each year, at present, India has only 30-40 DNA technical examiners in its forensic laboratories. To profile 1.2 billion population, an estimated 1,000 DNA examiners will be needed.
Based on the statement of ASG, the bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra adjourned the PIl filed by NGO lokniti Foundation to April, hoping the Bill to be tabled in Parliament by then.