On July 24, 2023, Dr Jitendra Singh, MOS Science & Technology withdrew the ‘DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019’ while addressing the Lok Sabha.
The bill was introduced on July 8, 2019 to regulate the use & application of DNA technology for the purposes of establishing the identity of certain categories of people, including victims, offenders, suspects, undertrials, those missing & unidentified deceased.
Subsequently on October 17, 2019, the bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change for examination and the report of the committee was laid in Lok Sabha on February 3, 2021.
Apar Gupta, founder director at IFF, in his testimony before the Parliamentary Committee argued at length to ensure that the bill upholds the right to privacy and the standards laid down in the Puttaswamy judgement.
The bill had a myriad of concerns including a failure to provide for consent on storing DNA data, giving too many discretionary powers to the regulatory board, & not laying down standards and timelines for data retention and deletion, etc