255 cases registered under UAPA in J&K in 2019, 3rd highest in any state/UT

Srinagar: As many as 255 cases were registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (1967) in Jammu & Kashmir during 2019, an official report reveals.

The details have been laid bare in the report Crime in India – 2019 released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) last week.

According to the report, J&K has the third-highest number of cases registered under the UAPA after Manipur and Tamil Nadu where respectively 306 and 270 FIRs were lodged under the law. It also means that 20 per cent of 1226 cases lodged across India under the law were registered in J&K.

The data reveals that not a single case was registered under the law in 11 states and six Union Territories.

The law was enacted in 1967 to provide for the more effective prevention of certain unlawful activities of individuals and associations and for dealing with militancy-related activities and for matters connected therewith.

The law empowers the Central government to ban organisations and designate individuals as terrorists.

Section 45 (2) of the Act mandates that the sanction for prosecution shall be given only after an authority formed for the purpose makes “an independent review of the evidence gathered in the course of the investigation and make a recommendation within such time as may be prescribed to the Central Government or, as the case may be, the State government.”

Earlier this year, the Jammu & Kashmir government booked two journalists under the law, evoking sharp criticism from different quarters. KNO