An overview of some of the parliamentary questions that were addressed on December 13 during the ongoing winter session of the 2022 Parliament.
On Tuesday, the parliament heard responses to inquiries on detainees awaiting trial, URLs that the central government had banned, as well as convictions and arrests made in accordance with the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
3.6% conviction rate in UAPA cases from 2019-21
Out of the 4,890 people who were detained under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) between 2019 and 2021, only 176 have been found guilty, according to information provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs in response to a question in the Lok Sabha. That results in a meagre conviction rate of 3.6% for the previous three years.
A total of 3,998 cases were still under investigation by the end of 2021. 2,041 of these had pending cases that date back more than three years.
Details of cases that are pending investigation under the UAPA from 2019 to 2021 are included in the following table, broken down by State and UT.
Cases pending investigation under UAPA during 2019-2021.
76% prisoners in country’s jails awaiting trial
In response to a query from BSP MP Shyam Singh Yadav, it was disclosed that there were 5,54,034 inmates in the nation’s jails as of December 31, 2022.
4,27,165 of them, or 76% of them, are awaiting trial. 34% of inmates around the world are awaiting trial.
The response provided statistics on undertrials in Uttar Pradesh and read,
“There were 90,606 convicts awaiting trial as of December 31, 2021, in the State of Uttar Pradesh. Out of them, 41,678 belonged to the Other Backward Class (OBC), 21,942 to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community, and 4,657 to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community.”
Instructions issued to block social media accounts and URLs
Tejasvi Surya, a MP of the BJP, requested information from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting about the number of orders issued to block and suspend channels, URLs, and other things over the past ten years, as well as any instances in which the government has taken suo motu notice of objectionable content on social media platforms.
It was discovered that during the past ten years, the Ministry has ordered the blocking of 25 social media accounts, 104 YouTube news publishers’ channels, and 45 films.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has ordered the shutdown of 30,417 user-generated URLs, including webpages, websites, postings, and profiles on social media platforms, between October 2013 and October 2022.
Crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
Advocate AM Ariff, a CPI MP, requested information on crimes committed against members of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the nation over the course of the previous four years and the present year.
1,89,945 and 31,172 cases of crimes against individuals from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, respectively, were reported nationwide between 2018 and 2021.
The information is provided by State/UT in the following table.:
State/UT-wise cases registered under Crime against people belonging to SCs and STs
Uttar Pradesh has the greatest number of offences against the SC group in 2021. (13,146). In 2021, Madhya Pradesh had the highest number of offences against the ST community (2,627).
There is no plan to include caste-based terrorism in the scope of the NIA or UAPA.
D Ravikumar, a member of parliament from Tamil Nadu, asked the Home Ministry if caste-related terrorism charges would be included in the National Investigation Agency’s remit (NIA).
He then inquired as to whether the federal government intended to advise state governments to use the UAPA as a defence against crimes committed against members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The response claimed that the government was not taking these recommendations into account.
Written By: Lakshman Singh, B.B.A LL.B (Hons.), Shri Ramswaroop Memorial University, Lucknow
