Revision as of 11:13, 12 February 2021

Arrests, convictions under UAPA

2016-19

February 11, 2021: The Times of India

As many as 96 people were arrested under the sedition law in 2019, though only two were convicted and 29 acquitted in the same period, the home ministry informed the Rajya Sabha, citing the latest NCRB data on Crime in India.

The same NCRB report states that 5,922 people were arrested under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) between 2016 and 2019, though the number of people convicted under the Act during this four-year period was just 132, the ministry said in reply to a different question in the Rajya Sabha.

Asked via a written query in the House if any steps were taken to strengthen the sedition law in view of the courts freeing those arrested under the “weak” law, junior home minister G Kishan Reddy replied that “amendments of laws is an ongoing process”. In reply to another question on arrests under UAPA, Reddy said 1,948 people were held under the law in 2019, as per NCRB data.

Seizures under UAPA

2014

Currency seized or recovered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 2014;
Graphic courtesy: The Times of India

See graphic:

Currency seized or recovered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 2014

Amendment to UAPA

2019

August 3, 2019: The Times of India

Cong finally votes with govt, amended terror law passed

New Delhi:

Parliament passed the amended UAPA bill, which provides for proscribing individuals involved in terror crimes as terrorists, after a sharp debate which saw home minister Amit Shah clash with opposition leaders P Chidambaram and Digvijaya Singh.

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment bill, 2019, was passed with 147 ‘ayes’ against 42 ‘noes’, with Congress finally voting in favour of the bill notwithstanding its opposition to what it said was a vague provision for proscribing an individual whom the Centre holds to be a terrorist. Other parties who voted with the government included TRS, BJD, TDP and AIADMK.

The parties that voted against the bill included Trinamool, CPM, CPI, DMK, RJD, SP, NCP, PDP and IUML. Their reservations primarily pertained to blacklisting of individual terror suspects and the “anti-federal” provision seeking to empower the National Investigation Agency DG to seize properties linked to terrorism without prior consent of the state police chief. They also cited the low conviction rate in UAPA cases.

Congress voted for the bill after supporting a demand to send the bill to the select committee, which was rejected by the House by 104 to 85 votes.

Shah slammed the “low conviction rate” argument and said it was based on the combined investigation and prosecution record of state governments and the NIA. Of the 278 cases registered by the NIA under UAPA, chargesheets were filed in 204. Of the 54 cases where courts passed judgment, 48 resulted in convictions — a conviction rate of 91%, which Shah said was “the best in the world”.

Earlier, Chidambaram said Congress had amended the UAPA on six occasions and “nobody can point a finger at Congress and say we were soft on terror”. Pointing to the “ambiguous” provision of branding a person as terrorist just because the Centre believes him to be a terrorist, Chidambaram wondered whether it would be used against “eminent” persons accused in the Koregaon-Bhima violence including activists Gautam Navlakha, Shoma Sen and Varavara Rao etc.

Shah assured that designation of an individual as terrorist would be subject to a four-stage scrutiny, even as Chidambaram termed the provision “unconstitutional” and “certain to be struck down by the courts” as it went against personal liberties. The home minister said outfits often circumvented a UAPA ban by rebranding.