Story in Numbers: Pending cases under UAPA on the rise, shows data

Each year (between 2014 and 2020), on an average, 985 cases under the UAPA were registered and the number of pending cases rose by 14.38% every year

Mohammed Ilyas, 38, and Mohammed Irfan, 33, were arrested in August 2012 by Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorist Squad under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) (among other charges) and accused of being linked to terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba. After being in jail for nine years, they were cleared of all charges by court, owing to lack of evidence, and released on June 2021.

This is neither the first time nor the last that the UAPA has made headlines for alleged wrongful arrest. In fact, this month, police in Tripura are facing ire for invoking the UAPA against 102 social media account holders, including those of journalists and activists, over alleged clashes and attacks on mosques in Tripura. 

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act  was first passed on December 30, 1967 for the "effective prevention of certain unlawful activities of individuals and associations, (and for dealing with terrorist activities), and for matters connected therewith".

The Act defines an unlawful activity as any action that is taken by an individual or association, "whether by committing an act or by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representation or otherwise", which disclaims, questions, disrupts or is intended to disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India; causes or is intended to cause disaffection against India; and which is intended or supports any claim to bring about the cession or secession of a part of the territory of India.

Each year (between 2014 and 2020), on an average, 985 cases under the UAPA are registered and the number of pending cases rise by 14.38% every year. Moreover, an average of 40.58% of the cases up for investigation in the seven years were sent for trial and 4.5% of them are completed.