SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir has recorded the highest number of arrests under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in India for five straight years, according to the latest Union Home Ministry data presented in the Lok Sabha on December 2. The reply, given by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai to MP Shafi Parambil, draws on figures from the National Crime Records Bureau and covers the period from 2019 to 2023.
The Home Ministry has said the responsibility for detection, investigation, and prosecution of UAPA cases rests primarily with State Governments and Union Territory administrations, since ‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ fall under the State List. The NCRB compiles annual data on arrests and convictions under UAPA but does not maintain any list of individuals currently lodged in prisons under the Act.
The figures show an extraordinary escalation in UAPA arrests in Jammu and Kashmir from 2021 onwards. The Union Territory recorded 227 arrests in 2019 and 346 in 2020. This rose sharply to 645 in 2021. The number almost doubled in 2022, reaching 1,238 arrests, before slightly easing to 1,206 in 2023. Conviction figures, however, remained low throughout the period. There were no convictions in 2019, two in 2020, none in 2021, eleven in 2022, and ten in 2023. This mismatch between the scale of arrests and the number of convictions highlights the gap between enforcement actions and final judicial outcomes in the UT.
Outside Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh emerged as the next major contributor to UAPA arrests. The state recorded 498 arrests in 2019, 361 in 2020, 321 in 2021, 503 in 2022, and a sharp jump to 1,122 arrests in 2023. Its conviction figures were comparatively higher than most regions, increasing from 17 in 2019 to 75 in 2023.
Assam recorded 112 arrests in 2019, 49 in 2020, 189 in 2021, 251 in 2022, and 154 in 2023, with almost no convictions except one in 2023. Manipur consistently recorded high arrest figures as well, with 386 arrests in 2019, 225 in 2020, 188 in 2021, 239 in 2022, and 130 in 2023, though convictions remained near-zero except one conviction in 2022. Jharkhand reported 202 arrests in 2019, 69 in 2020, 129 in 2021, 72 in 2022, and 29 in 2023, with modest conviction figures during the five-year period.
In the southern region, Kerala recorded relatively modest usage of the law, with 25 arrests in 2019, 24 in 2020, 23 in 2021, 52 in 2022, and 2 in 2023, while registering no convictions in any of these years. Tamil Nadu saw an unusual spike in 2019 with 308 arrests, followed by a steep decline to 92 in 2020, only one in 2021, fifteen in 2022, and two in 2023. Convictions in the state peaked in 2020 with twenty-one, before dropping back to zero thereafter.
Among smaller states, Nagaland recorded eighteen arrests in 2019 and seven in 2020, followed by minimal figures in later years but unusual conviction spikes, including two convictions in 2022. Meghalaya reported low figures until 2023, when arrests jumped to seventy-one. Punjab saw moderate but steady arrests every year without any convictions.
Among Union Territories excluding Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi stood out for its conviction numbers. The national capital recorded nine arrests in 2019, twelve in 2020, eighteen in 2021, twenty-seven in 2022, and twenty-two in 2023. Convictions rose dramatically in 2023 to twenty-four—the rare instance where convictions exceeded arrests in that year.
Across the country, the NCRB data shows that 1,948 people were arrested in 2019, 1,321 in 2020, 1,621 in 2021, 2,636 in 2022, and 2,914 in 2023. This brings the five-year national total to 10,440 arrests under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Convictions, by contrast, were 34 in 2019, 80 in 2020, 62 in 2021, 41 in 2022, and 118 in 2023, adding up to only 334 convictions nationwide across the five-year period.
Although the data points to intensified policing and arrest activity in several regions—most notably Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh—the relatively low conviction figures illustrate the long pendency and complex adjudication associated with UAPA cases across the country.
The government reiterated in Parliament that NCRB does not maintain any data on the individuals currently imprisoned under UAPA, even as State-wise arrest and conviction figures indicate wide variation in the use of India’s primary anti-terror law.
