Madras High Court Seeks Centre's Response On Challenge To Constitutionality Of Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act 2022

When the matter came up before the bench of Acting Chief Justice M Duraiswamy and Justice Sunder Mohan, the court asked Senior Advocate NR Elango appearing for the petitioner if any directions were issued by the Supreme Court on similar challenges before it. The counsel informed the court that no such petition was pending before the Apex Court and a similar challenge was pending before the Delhi High Court.

After briefly hearing the matter, the court directed Deputy Solicitor General of India R Shankaranarayan to file a counter affidavit within six weeks.

The petitioner, V Adarsh, has challenged Sections 2 (1) (a) (iii), 2 (1) (b), 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the Act as being unconstitutional, illegal and void. He contended that the sections are violative of Articles 14, 19(1)(a), 20(3), 21 and 51 of the Constitution thus, in effect going against the basic structure of the Constitution.

He contended that the Act gives power to the authority to take measurements of those arrested. However, what would come within the purview of measurements is vague, which itself is a violation of Article 14.

Senior Counsel NR Elango submitted that these taking of measurements which was essentially a judicial function has now been transferred to the executive which in turn affects the separation of power. He also submitted that under the Act, the government appoints an "appropriate authority" to collect data. This was against the right to privacy which is a fundamental right as held by the Supreme Court in KS Puttaswamy judgment, he argued.

Case Title: V Adarsh v. Union of India and ors

Case No: WP No. 25205 of 2022