Sedition cases fell to 20, those under UAPA saw a sharp rise: NCRB

The controversial Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), a crime under ‘offences against the state’, has seen a 23 per cent rise from previous years. While 814 UAPA cases were lodged in 2021, the number reached 1,005 last year, according to NCRB data.

Jammu and Kashmir reported a rise in the number of cases under the UAPA from 289 in 2021 to 371 cases in 2022. Manipur reported the second highest UAPA cases as 167 FIRs were lodged last year as compared to 157 in 2021. Punjab and Haryana also reported a rise in cases under UAPA from previous years.

The NCRB data shows an overall increase in offences against the state with more than 5,610 cases lodged last year as compared to 5,164 cases lodged in 2021. The offences include those under sedition, the UAPA, damage to public property, The Officials Secrets Act, and others. Uttar Pradesh tops the list with more than 2,231 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu (634) and J-K (417).

As per the NCRB data, over 241 cases under sedition and 5,610 under the UAPA are pending investigation. Data also shows around 4 sedition cases and 52 UAPA cases “ended” as the final report from the police termed the allegations as “false”.

Overall, 13,977 cases related to offences against the state are still pending investigation and 32,000 are pending in courts.

More than 38 people were arrested in sedition cases while 2,636 individuals were arrested in FIRs under the UAPA. Overall, 9,375 people were arrested for such offences.

In Uttar Pradesh, over 3,647 arrests for offences against the state were recorded last year. This is more than one-third of the entire arrests and is followed by Tamil Nadu (1,515 arrests) and J-K (1,309 arrests).