New Delhi: Crimes against the state have gone up in 2022 from 2021, with just UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967) seeing a rise of 23 percent, according to the data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Sunday.
Overall crimes against the state have gone up to 5,610 cases in 2022 from 5,164 in 2021, but the UAPA numbers are significantly higher — 1,005 in 2022 from 814 in the previous year.
The NCRB breaks up “Offences against State” into several sub-categories like UAPA, Section 121-124 (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and the Official Secrets Act, apart from activities amounting to imputation, and assertions prejudicial to national integration under the IPC.
There were 4,403 cases registered under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act in 2022 — up from 4,089 in 2021.
On the contrary, cases filed for “sedition” under Section 121 of the IPC saw a massive decline of nearly 75 percent from 76 in 2021 to 20 in 2022, as per NCRB.
Only West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir reported cases of sedition in 2022.
Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah had told Lok Sabha in August that the colonial-era “sedition law” would be repealed under the new bill Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which has been tabled in Parliament.
It will be replaced by Section 150 of BNS, which prescribes punishment against those endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India.
Nationwide surge in UAPA cases
Punjab and Haryana have seen a significant rise in UAPA cases with Punjab reporting 25 cases in 2022, compared to 14 in 2021, while Haryana reporting 11, up from 2 in 2021.
Jammu and Kashmir reported a rise of 28 percent in the number under UAPA from 289 in 2021 to 371 cases in 2022.
Assam saw a surge of 40 percent in 2022 — up to 133 from the previous year’s 95 cases.
Uttar Pradesh reported 101 cases in 2022 compared to 83 cases in 2021.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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