4,690 arrested under UAPA, 149 convicted: Govt tells Rajya Sabha

As many as 4,690 people were arrested in different parts of the country under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the past three years, and 149 of whom got convicted, according to government figures.

Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said in Rajya Sabha that 1,421 people were arrested in 2018 under the UAPA, 1,948 in 2019 and 1,321 in 2020.

A total of 35 people were convicted in 2018, 34 in 2019 and 80 in 2020, he said in a written reply to question.

The minister made it clear that the conviction is an outcome of an elaborate judicial process and is dependent on various factors, such as duration of the trial, appraisal of evidences, examination of witnesses.

"There are adequate Constitutional, institutional and statutory safeguards including inbuilt safeguards in the UAPA itself to prevent misuse of the law," he said.