Though India became independent in 1947 our statute books are still full of laws that the British enacted from time to time to suppress and oppress us. The Identification of Prisoners Act. 1920 is one of several such laws. But instead of repealing the Act, the  Lok Sabha on April 4 this year passed the Criminal Procedure  (Identification) Bill 2022 to replace it.

The Lok Sabha passed the bill by voice vote in spite of the fact that the entire opposition demanded that the bill be referred to a parliamentary standing committee or a select committee for scrutiny. The new bill does not merely replace the 102 year old Act; it has been made more stringent in violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India. It is also contrary to the principles of data minimisation and storage limitation laid down in the Puttuswamy and Aadhar judgments of the Supreme Court of India.

The bill also violates Article 20 of the Indian Constitution, prohibition against self-incrimination: No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself. It violates the principles of natural justice treating every arrested person as guilty even before trial or conviction.

It gives unbridled wide powers to the police and prison officials to gather every detail about the individual arrested or detained for any reason. The police can collect all details about any individual, physical, biological and social, including what one eats, drinks and wears. According to clause 26,  measurements include “finger prints, palm print impressions, photographs, iris and retina scan, physical and biological samples and their analysis, behavioural attributes including signatures, handwriting or any other examination referred to in Section 53 or Section 53 A of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973”.

Those who refuse to give these details will be proceeded against under Section 186 of the Indian Penal Code, obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions. In other words, once a person is arrested or detained he or she has no escape from the long arm of the draconian enactment.

Under the 1920 British Act only very limited data could be collected, that too on the orders of a magistrate and data collection could be carried out only by police officials of the rank of sub-inspector and above. The magistrate also had to specify what data is to be collected .In the bill passed by independent India’s Lok Sabha, the magistrate has no role whatsoever and data collection has been handed over to head constables and prison warders.

In this context the Law Commission, 1980 had suggested that the 1920 Act be amended to require the magistrate to record the reasons for giving the order to collect data. The bill does not have any such safeguard; on the contrary it gives wide powers to the head constables and prison warders.

Under the 2022 Bill, data of the following categories of people can be collected. Any person who has been: a) convicted of an offence punishable under any law for the time being in force or b) ordered to give security for his good behaviour or maintaining peace under section 117 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 for proceeding under section 107, or section 108 or section 110 of the said Code or c) arrested in connection with an offence punishable under any law for the time being in force or detained under any preventive detention law, shall if so required allow his measurement to be taken by a police officer or a prison officer in such manner as may be prescribed by the Union Government or State Government.

“Provided that any person arrested for an offence committed under any law for the time being in force (except for an offence committed against a woman or child or for any offence punishable with imprisonment for a period not less than seven years) may not be obliged to allow the taking of his biological samples under the provisions of this section.

What takes the cake in the new Bill is the provision that the data collected will be stored with the Crime Records Bureau for 75 years, practically for the entire life of the individual whose data has been collected.

Under the 1920 Act, however, in case of acquittal or discharge all material had to be destroyed. May be in celebration of 75 years of India’s independence under the new bill data of arrested, detained or convicted individuals could be preserved for 75 years!

Whether the Bill is constitutional or not has to be examined from the angle of the States’ powers. Law and order, police and crime investigation come under the State list. The British Government in India was free to make arbitrary decisions. Can the Union government legislate on subjects reserved for the States even without consulting them?

In this context what Dayanidhi Maran (DMK) said in parliament is quite relevant. The Bill he said is anti-people and against the spirit of federalism. The bill, he added, is open ended and infringes on the privacy of individuals. He also accused the government of establishing a surveillance state.

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Addressing the media, he said that his plans were disrupted because of the coronavirus pandemic and he did not want to be careless. He said that the time has come to transform Tamil Nadu, the superstar said, “Will work as much as possible for the people. If we don’t do it now change will never happen.”

Saying that the victory in politics will be the victory of the people , he said, “it depends on the people of Tamil Nadu. If I win when I enter politics, it will be people’ s victory.”

He thanked everyone for their support, said, “I would like to thank everyone for their support.”

Rajinikanth said, “We will surely win assembly polls and give an honest, transparent, corruption-free, and spiritual politics. A wonder and miracle will definitely happen.”

He had made the announcement about him entering politics on Dec 31 in 2017.

The actor’s political entry is expected to give tremors to DMK and AIADMK. Many suspected that the superstar who is close to many RSS and BJP Leaders Mohan Bhagwat, Amit Shah, and PM Modi was compelled by the BJP to make his political entry.

After meeting district secretaries of Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM) on November 30, Rajinikanth said he will make an announcement soon.

For the superstar, his line of politics is spiritual and beyond religion, corruption and focus of the welfare the people . Rajini had asked his supporters to go every street in the state and pass the message about his intentions and he had told them then, “when the time is right I will give the war cry and at the time all of you be ready to support me.”

In 1996 Rajini had openly supported the DMK and had called for “Saving Tamil Nadu from Jayalalithaa” , That year when Jayalalitha’s AIADMK was defeated, Rajini was seen as a major game-changer, which opened the possibility of his entry in Tamil Nadu politics.

The wait of his political announcement came to an end, a year after Jayalalitha’s death on December 2016. After the announcement, superstar had clarified that he will not join any existing political parties. Yet, he had personally gone and met DMK patriarch Karunanidhi for blessings.

Just like many in the cine field close to many in the DMK, Rajini maintains close connection with prominent DMK leaders even though he is against their ideologies. Rajini is said to have a good relationship with Alagiri, Stalin’s elder brother.

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In a letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Khushbu Sundar conveyed her decision to quit the party, saying that she was being “pushed and suppressed” by “few elements” seated at a higher level within the party.

“A few elements seated at a higher level within the party, people who have no connectivity with the ground reality or public recognition are dictating terms and people like me who wanted to work for the party sincerely, are being pushed and suppressed,” Khushbu Sundar said.

Meanwhile, Congress has dropped Khushbu Sundar as its spokesperson.

Sundar, who has been with the Congress for close to six years, is in Delhi today and may meet BJP’s central team. The developments come ahead of Tamil Nadu Assemble elections that are slated to be held next year.

Khushbu Sundar had first sparked off rumours of a rift with the Congress in July when she backed the Center’s new National Education Policy. She had even tweeted an apology to pary leader Rahul Gandhi for her differing views.

In a cryptic tweet on October 11, Khushbu Sundar said, “Many see a change in me. Well as you age, you evolve n grow, learn n unlearn, perceptions change you understand the difference between right n wrong. Change is inevitable (sic)

Many see a change in me. Well as you age, you evolve n grow, learn n unlearn, perceptions change, likes n dislikes too, thoughts n ideas take a new shape, dreams are new, you understand the difference between like n love, between right n wrong. Change is inevitable. Happy eve ❤️ pic.twitter.com/on1B4bHx30

— KhushbuSundar (@khushsundar) October 10, 2020

The popular star has hopped parties in the past. She had joined the DMK in 2010 when DMK was in power, particularly after she took up the role of late rationalist leader Periyar’s wife Maniamani in a biographical film funded by the Tamil Nadu government. However four years later, she left DMK and joined the Congress in 2014 saying that she finally found her home.

With state elections eight months away, BJP could use Ms Sundar’s star power to their advantage in Tamil Nadu. The party doesn’t have any charismatic leader in the state yet. This also comes at a time the ruling AIADMK is uncomfortable about continuing its alliance with the BJP following its collapse in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and speculation that the national party could tacitly back superstar Rajinikanth who is likely to launch his party ahead of the polls.

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“I have experienced similar ridicule from government officials and ordinary citizens who insist that I speak Hindi during telephone conversations and sometimes face-to-face conversations,” he tweeted.

The unpleasant experience of DMK MP Ms Kanimozhi at Chennai airport is not unusual.

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) August 10, 2020

If the Centre sincerely considers Hindi and English to be the official languages of India, they should compel all Central Government agencies and employees to speak both languages.

Those who do not speak Hindi, who are selected for Central Government posts, acquire the language very quickly. But he also asked why Hindi speakers who opt for central services could not learn English.

Kanimozhi tweeted on August 9 that a CISF jawan at Chennai airport had asked her if she was Indian because she did not know Hindi and asked her to speak English or Tamil.

Today at the airport a CISF officer asked me if “I am an Indian” when I asked her to speak to me in tamil or English as I did not know Hindi. I would like to know from when being indian is equal to knowing Hindi.#hindiimposition

— Kanimozhi (கனிமொழி) (@KanimozhiDMK) August 9, 2020

Tamil Nadu has a history of opposing the three-language formula with anti-Hindi agitations that took place in Tamil Nadu (formerly Madras State and part of Madras Presidency) during both pre- and post-Independence periods. Those agitations involved several mass protests, riots, student and political movements in Tamil Nadu concerning the official status of Hindi in the state.

The first anti-Hindi imposition agitation was launched in 1937, in opposition to the introduction of compulsory teaching of Hindi in the schools of Madras Presidency by the first Indian National Congress government led by C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji). This move was immediately opposed by E. V. Ramasamy (Periyar) and the opposition Justice Party. The agitation, which lasted three years, was multi-faceted and involved fasts, conferences, marches, picketing and protests. The government responded with a crackdown resulting in the deaths of two protesters and the arrests of 1,198 persons including women and children. Mandatory Hindi education was later withdrawn by the British Governor of Madras Lord Erskine in February 1940 after the resignation of the Congress Government in 1939.

The adoption of an official language for the Indian Republic was a hotly debated issue during the framing of the Indian Constitution after India’s Independence from the United Kingdom. After an exhaustive and divisive debate, Hindi was adopted as the official language of India with English continuing as an associate official language for a period of fifteen years, after which Hindi would become the sole official language.

The new Constitution came into effect on 26 January 1950. Efforts by the Indian Government to make Hindi the sole official language after 1965 were not acceptable to many non-Hindi Indian states, who wanted the continued use of English.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a descendant of Dravidar Kazhagam, led the opposition to Hindi. To allay their fears, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru enacted the Official Languages Act in 1963 to ensure the continuing use of English beyond 1965. The text of the Act did not satisfy the DMK and increased their scepticism that his assurances might not be honoured by future administrations.

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