233 people slapped with sedition charge in 2014-18, govt tells in Rajya Sabha

Union minister G. Kishan Reddy says 70 people were charged with sedition in 2018. The number was 51 (2017), 35 (2016), 30 (2015) and 47 (2014).

File photo of G. Kishan Reddy | Commons

New Delhi: As many as 233 people were slapped with the charge of sedition for their alleged anti-national activities — the highest 37 each were registered in Assam and Jharkhand — in the last five years, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy said as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the charge of sedition under section 124A of the IPC was slapped against 70 people in 2018, 51 people in 2017, 35 in 2016, 30 in 2015 and 47 in 2014.

Reddy said, while replying to a written question, that 37 people in Assam and Jharkhand each were slapped with sedition charge between 2014 and 2018.

A total of 29 people were slapped with sedition charge in Haryana during the said period, he said.