Centre withholds names of those booked under UAPA citing public interest

Minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai gave the information in Lok Sabha in response to Trinamool Congress leader Mala Roy’s question about the number and names of people the Delhi Police have arrested under UAPA

Revealing names of those booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) may impact the cases under the anti-terror law and is not in the larger public interest, the Centre has told Parliament. The Delhi Police arrested 34 people in 2020 and registered nine cases under the law that year, it added.

Representational Image. (File photo)

Minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai gave the information in Lok Sabha in response to Trinamool Congress leader Mala Roy’s question about the number and names of people the Delhi Police have arrested under UAPA.

Activists and jurists have expressed concerns over the misuse of the anti-terror legislation. The matter was back under the spotlight amid outrage over the death of 84-year-old activist Stan Swamy, who was arrested under UAPA last year. He died in Mumbai while his bail plea on health grounds remained pending before the high court. Swamy was charged under the UAPA for his role in what the National Investigative Agency said was an alleged Maoist conspiracy that led to caste clashes near the Bhima Koregaon village four years ago.

The UAPA makes the grant of bail extremely difficult. It lays down that an accused charged under UAPA shall not be released on bail if the court thinks there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation against such a person is prima facie true.