Bill in LS for use of DNA technology to crack tough criminal cases
New Delhi, Aug 9: A bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday for expanding the use of DNA-based forensic technology to crack difficult criminal cases such as rape, murder and human trafficking and establish identities of unclaimed dead bodies and victims of disasters. The proposed law will support and strengthen the justice delivery system in the country.
Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan introduced the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018, which provides for mandatory accreditation and regulation of DNA laboratories.
Addressing the concerns of some opposition members, he said the bill has been examined by an expert committee.
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.
It seeks to ensure that the DNA test results are reliable and the data is protected from misuse or abuse in terms of the privacy rights.
The bill seeks to establish a national DNA data bank and regional DNA data banks which shall store and maintain the DNA profiles in accordance with provisions related to use and access of information, its retention and its expunction.
Forensic DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) 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.
Officials said that at present a very small proportion of these crimes are subjected to DNA testing.
They said expanded use of DNA testing 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.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
