NEW DELHI: Law enforcement agencies appear to have been finding it difficult to get convictions in cases, which they have registered under stringent anti-terror law, as the data prepared by the government has revealed. From 2014 to 2022, a total of 8,719 cases were registered under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and of these, there were acquittals in 567 cases, while 215 resulted in conviction.Cases under the UAPA are registered by different law enforcement agencies.According to data, since 2014, except for one intervening year, the acquittals have been much higher than convictions consistently. This trend has not changed as even 2022 saw the highest number of acquittals since 2014.Year-wise data revealed that in 2014, 976 cases were registered, but that year only nine resulted in conviction, with 24 cases acquitted and the trend continued with some variation over the years. In 2015, the total number of cases registered under the UAPA across states and UTs by different police forces and central agencies were 897. That year, 11 convictions were recorded, and in 65 cases the accused were acquitted.It remained the same in the year 2016, as there were 11 convictions and 22 acquittals in cases filed under the UAPA.However, the year 2017 showed a slight increase in convictions of accused (34) and 33 acquittals, where a total 901 cases were registered by different law enforcement agencies across the country. But in 2018 and 2019, 1,182 cases and 1,226 cases were registered and the acquittal rates remained very high. In 2018, courts acquitted the accused in 68 cases and in 2019, 64 cases.
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