NCRB report: State registered second highest sedition cases

New Delhi, Aug 30
Seventy-six cases for sedition were registered in 2021 in the country under IPC Section 124A, of which the maximum — 29 — were in Andhra Pradesh, according to the latest NCRB report.
In 2021, Andhra Pradesh reported the highest number of sedition cases at 29, followed by Nagaland and Manipur (7 each), Haryana (5), Assam and Uttar Pradesh (3 each).
For Andhra Pradesh, this was in sharp contrast to 2020, when no sedition case was recorded in the State. In 2020, 73 sedition cases were recorded across India, the report, Crime in India, says.
According to the report, 86 people were arrested in sedition crimes across the country in 2021, while there were 1,604 arrests under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UAPA]. It said 66 persons in sedition crimes and 1,317 under UAPA law were chargesheeted in 2021. While no one was convicted of sedition crimes in 2021, 62 people were convicted under UAPA.
In 2020, out of 73 sedition cases, the maximum 15 were reported in Manipur, followed by Assam (12), Karnataka (8), and Uttar Pradesh (7).
In all, 149 offences against State, under various Sections of IPC, were reported in 2021, lower than 172 cases reported in 2020.
In addition to crimes under IPC, 4,958 offences against the State were reported across the country under various Special & Local Laws (SLL). Of 4,958 cases of offence against State under SLL, 4,089 cases were reported under Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act; 814 under UAPA; and 55 under Official Secret Act, shows the report.
In 2020, 796 cases were reported under UAPA.
The report noted, “A total of 9,52,273 cognizable crimes comprising 6,30,937 IPC crimes and 3,21,336 Special & Local Laws (SLL) crimes were registered in 19 metropolitan cities during 2021, showing an increase of 3.1% over 2020 (9,24,016 cases).”
“During 2021, IPC crimes registered have declined by 5.6% and SLL crimes registered have increased by 25.5% over 2020,” the report said. It said the percentage share of IPC was 66.3, and that of SLL cases was 33.7% in 2021.
The report said, “Under IPC crimes, majority of cases were registered under theft accounting for 40.1% (2,53,068 out of 6,30,937 cases) followed by disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant (Sec. 188 IPC) 14.1% (89,134 cases) and hurt with 6.7% (42,426 cases) during 2021.”
It stated, “A total of 82,720 cases of offences affecting the human body were registered which accounted for 13.1% of total IPC crimes in 19 metropolitan cities during 2021. Out of these cases Hurt (42,426 cases) accounted for maximum cases i.e. 51.3% followed by cases of Kidnapping & Abduction (13,121 cases, 15.9%) and cases of Causing Death by Negligence (7,810 cases, 9.4%).
“The cases registered under offences against human body depict an increase of 18.1% in 2021 over 2020 (70,016 cases). The crime rate registered under this head show an increase from 61.4 in 2020 to 72.5 in 2021,” it said.
Crime rate is defined as cases per lakh of population.
The Indian Express