The union government has opposed Rajya Sabha MP A.A.
Rahim’s “sweeping” assertion that the biometric data of “thousands of protestors” has been enrolled on national criminal databases.
An affidavit filed by the Home Ministry through the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) said blanket allegations of indefinite retention, storage and sharing of biometric information were not based on foundational facts. The NCRB said allegations of violation of fundamental rights to privacy, free speech and expression must be based on factual foundation of the alleged infringement.
“The petition discloses no order or act of the NCRB whereby any person at Jantar Mantar was subjected to facial recognition, biometric collection, drone surveillance or fingerprint matching.
The government said the MP has not identified a single biometric record of any identified person which was unlawfully collected at Jantar Mantar, transmitted to NCRB, which had in turn processed or retained the information in breach of any law. An “omnibus” assertion that biometrics of the NEET-UG protestors were captured and stored cannot substitute for proof that it was actually done, the Home Ministry said. The NCRB said the allegations that it had an interface to share biometric information with private entities were at best vague. The mere existence of a statutory framework governing records of measurements [biometrics] and their processing or matching does not make NCRB the author, controller or supervisor of every alleged field-level collection undertaken by a police or investigating agency,” the affidavit said.
