The Centre’s move, however, met with serious concern from the Opposition and civil society over possible contraventions of constitutional rights, chiefly the right to privacy and the right against self-incrimination. Amid a growing awareness for personal privacy and data protection, an argument can be made that the proposed law, which obligates not only convicts but also those detained under preventive laws or suspected of committing an offence to give body measurements, would infringe the right of bodily autonomy as well as the right to be forgotten as a facet of privacy rights. Another crucial concern relates to the compliance of the bill with Article 20(3) of the Constitution, which explicitly states that no person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself. It has been contended that the bill, therefore, goes beyond the House’s legislative competence and must be struck down. The provision that implies the use of force to take measurements violates the rights of the prisoners laid down in a body of Supreme Court judgments.

The question thus arises if the new crime-control model envisaged by the Centre satisfies the due- process model mandated by the Constitution. In its present form, the bill throws up some crucial questions of compliance with the constitutional rights of convicts and accused and those who may be political protesters with genuine demands.