Government: Conviction only in 5 of 279 sedition cases filed in 4 years

NEW DELHI: Between 2015 and 2019, as many as 279 sedition cases were registered under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), though only nine persons were convicted in five cases in this period, the home ministry told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Similarly, 5,128 cases were registered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) between 2015 and 2019, though only 155 persons were convicted in 123 cases.
In reply to a question, junior minister Nityanand Rai quoted NCRB data and stated that 279 sedition cases were registered, 127 cases chargesheeted and conviction secured in five cases in the five years since 2015. Also, a total 321 persons were chargesheeted for sedition and only nine convicted in this period.

1,775 people died in prisons in 2019, Rajya Sabha told:
According to NCRB data, 1,775 persons died in prisons across the country in the year 2019. Also, 348 cases were registered in respect of deaths in police custody and 5,221 cases in respect of deaths in judicial custody between 2017-18 and 2020-21, the home ministry told the Rajya Sabha, citing data sourced from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).