When Science Meets the Constitution: Constitutional Limits on the Collection and Use of DNA Evidence in India

Abstract

DNA profiling has moved from an exceptional forensic tool to a routine feature of Indian criminal and civil adjudication, yet the rules on how samples are taken, held and used are scattered across the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and judicial improvisation. This article argues that the constitutional question is two questions: whether the State may compel a sample, and what it may later do with the profile. The Article 20(3) testimonial divide answers the first in part and the second not at all. Article 21, read through the Puttaswamy proportionality test, governs both. Drawing on criminal, civil and comparative authority, the article shows that Indian law meets the legality limb weakly, the necessity limb rarely and the safeguards limb hardly at all, and proposes a statutory structure built on judicial authorisation, purpose limitation, accredited custody and time-bound retention.