The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, 10 February, was informed that between 2016 and 2019, a total of 5,922 people were arrested across the country under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and there were 132 convictions under the act.
In a written reply to a question by RS member Syed Naseer Hussain, Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy also mentioned that according to National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) data, the total number of people arrested under the UAPA in the 2019 was 1,948.
“NCRB does not maintain this data on the basis of religion, race, caste or gender,” Reddy further informed.
Number of Sedition Charges Filed in 2019
The Union Minister said that as many as 96 people were arrested under charges of sedition, and 93 sedition cases were registered in the country in 2019.
Reddy further added that charge sheets were filed against 76 people and 29 were acquitted in 2019.
Karnataka had the highest number of sedition cases, with a total of 22, and 18 people were arrested in the state. However, 23 people were arrested under the charge in Assam, which had 17 registered cases.
Replying to a question on whether any step has been taken to strengthen the sedition law (Section 124A of the IPC), Reddy said the “amendment of laws is an ongoing process”.
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