New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Assam and Uttar Pradesh together registered over three-fourth of all UAPA cases in India in 2022, while one-fourth of sedition cases were registered in West Bengal alone, according to the latest NCRB data on 'Offences against the State'.
Altogether 20 cases of sedition under the Indian Penal Code section 124A were lodged across India in 2022 while 1,005 were registered under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which functions under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, showed in its annual crime report.
Notably, sedition cases have come down since 2020 while those lodged under the UAPA saw a rise in the last three years, according to the data.
In 2021, 76 cases of sedition and 814 cases of UAPA were lodged in the country, while in 2020 the figures for the same were logged at 73 and 796, official data from corresponding years showed.
Among states and Union Territories, the maximum number of UAPA cases were lodged in Jammu and Kashmir (371) followed by Manipur (167), Assam (133) and Uttar Pradesh (101).
The maximum cases of sedition were lodged in West Bengal (5) followed by 3 each in Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur and Uttar Pradesh, the NCRB report showed.
In 2022 as well as 2021, 55 FIRs were registered under the Official Secrets Act while 39 such offences were registered in 2020, according to the NCRB, which is tasked with the collection and analysis of crime data.
A total of 5,610 cases were registered in 2022 as compared to 5,164 cases in 2021, and 5,613 in 2020 under the wider category of 'Offences against the State'.