Parliament Watch: New Delhi International Arbitration Centre to be renamed; decrease in dowry death cases

The 2022 Winter Session of Indian Parliament on Wednesday saw the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which seeks to rename the NDIAC, passed by the Rajya Sabha..Questions were answered regarding the number of dowry deaths over the last five years, cases registered under the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and cases by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on allegations of derogatory internet posts against government and Constitutional functionaries..The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was passed by the Rajya Sabha to amend the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Act.The Act provides for setting up the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre and designates it as an institute of national importance. The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre replaced the International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution.The Bill was introduced and passed in Lok Sabha on August 5 and August 8, 2022 respectively.It renames the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre as the India International Arbitration Centre.Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju stated in Parliament that a need was felt to rename the Centre, as India is a large country and all major cities already have arbitration centres named after them, including Delhi."Delhi International Arbitration Centre already exists in Delhi High Court. Adding another one called New Delhi International Arbitration Centre will cause confusion," he said..The Rajya Sabha passed the Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022 to include the Gond communities from Chandauli, Kushinagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, and Sant Ravidas Nagar districts of Uttar Pradesh in the ST category after excluding them from the SC list.The Bill was introduced and passed in Lok Sabha on March 28 and April 1, 2022 respectively.It seeks to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) (Uttar Pradesh) Order, 1967 (ST Order) and the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 (SC Order) with respect to its application to Uttar Pradesh..In response to a question in the Rajya Sabha by Kerala MP AA Rahim, it was revealed that 337,795 cases under the NDPS Act were registered in the country between 2017 and 2021.The conviction rate during each of these five years was 70.6%, 74.4%, 76.5%, 81.6% and 77.9% respectively.In 2021, 10,432, 10,087, and 9,972 crimes under the Act were recorded in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Punjab, respectively.The following table shows the State/UT-wise data of cases registered and conviction rate under NDPS Act over the last 5 years:.Indian National Congress MP KC Venugopal sought to know the number of dowry deaths reported in different states during the last five years.It was revealed that from 2017 to 2021, 35,493 cases of dowry deaths have been registered across the country. 6,753 were registered in 2021, the least in the last five years.Over the last five years, nearly 50% of the cases - 11,874 and 5,354 - have been registered in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar respectively..Tamil Nadu MP TR Baalu sought to know in the Lok Sabha the number of chargesheets filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against persons accused of putting up derogatory posts on the internet against government and Constitutional functionaries.The reply stated that the CBI has registered 15 cases for such posts since 2019.6 of these are under investigation. In 9 cases, 28 chargesheets have been filed against 28 accused.