The interim cabinet of Bangladesh on Monday gave the final approval for the draft of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) Act at its first meeting since it was formed to steer the country through the upcoming elections.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina chaired the meeting at the cabinet conference room.
“All cabinet members attended, except the advisors to the prime minister, who traditionally attended the cabinet meetings earlier,” Cabinet Secretary M. Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told the media afterwards.
The ministry of women and children affairs prepared the law to bring the DNA testing laboratories under a legal structure. It includes provisions for two to seven year jail terms and Tk300,000 fines for violating the law.
The act was given in principle approval on September 2 with some correction proposals and observations, and it was placed for final approval after those corrections.
It will now be sent for President Abdul Hamid’s approval before being placed in the parliament. After passing the law in the parliament a separate department will be established, under which the laboratories will then operate.
DNA is the genetic signature of human beings and is unique to each individual.
The office will collect DNA samples and put them in a national database, which will help the government to identify criminals, determine family relationships, hold DNA data on emigrants and identify decomposed dead bodies.
The DNA testing activities will be supervised by a cell which will be constituted under the interior ministry until the new department is established.
Currently, there are two DNA testing laboratories in Dhaka and one in each of the six divisional headquarters – Rajshahi, Barishal, Khulna, Chittagong, Sylhet and Rangpur – plus one in Faridpur.
The ministry of women and children affairs has already established DNA profiling labs in Dhaka Medical College Hospital and some other hospitals.
The cabinet secretary said the offense under the law would be non-bailable. The tribunals will not have any authority to accept any offense in cognisance except the written prayers of the government or DNA advisory council or chief of DNA laboratory or director or any person who will be given the authority.
He said that the advisory council would be formed comprising the representatives of experts and relevant officials of the government. It will advise the officials of the newly-formed department.
The cabinet secretary said the law was prepared keeping the provision of how to identify the criminals, how to prepare the database of DNA profiles and preserve it, how to analyse and keep the DNA, how to assess the value of DNA profiles during the judicial process, and punishments under the law.
He said though it was possible to identify the criminals analysing DNA profiles, there was no law to accept DNA profiles in cognisance in courts. The law was enacted to ensure acceptance of DNA profiles in courts.
According to the law, the punishment of operating illegal or unregistered DNA labs will be punishable by two to five years in prison and a Tk100,000 fine.
The punishment for disclosing the database or any information without prior permission of the authority will be three years in prison and Tk50,000 as penalty, or both.
Individuals who try to destroy DNA evidence or data will also be punished by three to seven years in jail and Tk300,000 as penalty, or both.
Any kind of irresponsibility in collecting the evidences by doctors or investigating officers will also be considered punishable with two years in prison and TK 30,000 as penalty.
Only metropolitan magistrates or judicial magistrates will have the authority to try these offenses, as per the law.
Mohosinul Karim, Dhaka Tribune