New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) saw 96 percent convictions in its cases in which judgments were pronounced over the last five years, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told Rajya Sabha Wednesday.
According to data shared with the Upper House, there have been 84 judgments in cases probed and chargesheeted by the NIA since 2019, and the agency achieved convictions in 81 cases. Between 1 December 2018 and 30 November 2023, the home ministry had handed over 324 cases to India’s counter-terrorism agency.
In response to written questions from BJP MPs Shambhu Sharan Patel and Deepak Prakash, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed Parliament that this year, till 30 November, there have been 15 convictions in as many judgments given in NIA cases.
The government data also suggested that NIA has managed to achieve 100 percent conviction since 2020 except in 2022 when there were 30 convictions in 31 overall judgments.
The NIA recorded nine convictions in nine cases in 2020, followed by 15 out of 15 in 2021.
In 2019, there were convictions in 12 out of 14 judgments, according to the government data.
Cases at all-time high
The NIA had in December 2022 said that it had registered 73 cases that year, an all-time high number for the agency and a 19.67 percent increase from the previous year when they had lodged 61 cases.
The agency had elaborated that around half of the 73 cases were of “jihadi terror” in Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal.
There were additional 11 cases from J&K while 10 cases reported were related to Left Wing Extremism (LWE). The agency had also registered seven cases related to the banned outfit Popular Front of India (PFI).
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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