UAPA cases increased from 901 in 2017 to 1,226 in 2019, arrests went up to 1,948: MoS Home in Lok Sabha

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The cases registered under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) increased from 901 in the year 2017 to 1,226 in 2019, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed the Lok Sabha on August 10.

Rai, in a written reply to a question raised in the Parliament's Lower House, also noted that the number of people arrested under UAPA during the same period increased from 1,554 to 1,948.

"As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, the number of cases registered under UAPA has increased from 901 in 2017 to 1,226 in 2019 while arrested people's number has gone up to 1,948 in 2019 from 1,554 in 2017," the MoS Home stated.

The UAPA law was enacted first in 1967, but has since been amended several times - the last amendment brought in the year 2019. Under the law, an accused is eligible to apply for bail only after six months as probing agencies get 180 days for initial investigation, as compared to 60-90 days for cases registered under other laws or penal code.

The Delhi High Court, while recently granting bail to three student activists Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal and Asif Iqbal Tanha - booked under UAPA following the riots in the national capital in February 2020 -  had accused the police of blurring the line between “terrorist act” under the UAPA and the right to protest against a law (Citizenship Amendment Act).

The Supreme Court had refused to intervene in the High Court's decision, and SC judge Justice DY Chandrachud said on July 13, at the Indo-US Joint Summer Conference, that the anti-terror law must not be used for "quelling dissent".

Meanwhile, the MoS Home also informed the Lok Sabha on August 10 that as per the official records, as many as 5,886 security personnel have lost their lives in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989.

"J&K has been affected by terrorist violence, sponsored and supported from across the border. Since inception of terrorism in J&K (from 1989 till August 5, 2019) 5,886 security personnel have been killed in terrorist incidents," Rai said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.