The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018 that aims to regulate and accredit the laboratories providing DNA (Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid) facilities in public and private sector. The role of such labs is increasingly becoming important in solving crimes and identifying missing persons.
The proposed Bill drafted by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) under the Union Science and Technology Ministry seeks to expand use of DNA-based forensic technology to support and strengthen the justice delivery system of the country as it will help establish the identity of certain categories of persons including criminals, victims, missing persons and unknown deceased. “The utility of DNA-based technologies in solving crimes and identify missing persons is gaining recognition across the world.
“By providing for the mandatory accreditation and regulation of DNA laboratories, the Bill seeks to ensure that there is assurance that the DNA test results are reliable and the data is protected from misuse or abuse in terms of the privacy rights,” said an official from the DBT.
He said the bill has provisions to enable cross-matching between persons who have been reported missing and unidentified dead bodies found in various parts of the country and for establishing the identity of victims in mass disasters.
Forensic DNA profiling is of proven value in solving offences related to human body such as murder, rape, human trafficking, or grievous hurt, besides theft, burglary and dacoity.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Report 2016, aggregate incidence of such crimes in the country is in excess of three lakh per year.
The official said that currently, only a very small proportion of these crimes are subjected to DNA testing.
“It is expected that the expanded use of this technology in these categories of cases would result not only in speedier justice delivery but also in increased conviction rates, which at present is only around 30 per cent,” he added.
As per the draft Bill DNA profiling would be undertaken exclusively for identification of a person and would not be used to extract any other information. Further, no bodily substances will be taken from a person unless consent is given for the same. The draft proposes setting up a DNA Profiling Board as a statutory body which will be responsible for supervising, monitoring, inspecting and assessing DNA laboratories.
The Bill also proposes a National DNA Data Bank and Regional DNA Data Banks (for the states) which will be responsible for storing DNA profiles received from the accredited laboratories. To ensure that it is not misused, bill proposes that violators of the provisions would be liable for imprisonment which may extend up to three years and includes a fine.