Two-thirds of trials completed under a 51-year-old law used to arrest five human rights activists recently ended in acquittal or discharge in 2016, the latest year for which national crime data are available.
As many as 22 of 33 cases (67 per cent) under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA) ended in acquittal or discharge in 2016, compared to 18 per cent of cases that ended similarly under special and local laws (SLL), a category of laws applicable nationwide and which encompasses the UAPA, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.
In 2015, 65 of 76 cases in which trials were completed under UAPA ended in acquittal or discharge. On average, 75 per cent cases have ended in acquittal/discharge over three years ending 2016, as per our analysis of NCRB data.
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