Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is an Indian law aimed at effective prevention of unlawful activities associations in India. Its main objective was to make powers available for dealing with activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty of India.[1]

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967
Parliament of India
CitationAct No. 37 of 1967
Territorial extentThe whole of India
Enacted byParliament of India
Assented to30 December 1967[1]
Amended by
1. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 1969 (24 of 1969).

2. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1972 (31 of 1972).
3. The Delegated Legislation Provisions (Amendment) Act, 1986 (4 of 1986).
4. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2004 (29 of 2004).
5. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2008 (35 of 2008).

6. Individuals can also be tagged under terrorist Amendment Act, 2019
Status: In force

The National Integration Council appointed a Committee on National Integration and Regionalisation to look into, the aspect of putting reasonable restrictions in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India. Pursuant to the acceptance of recommendations of the Committee, the Constitution (Sixteenth Amendment) Act, 1963 was enacted to impose, by law, reasonable restrictions in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India. In order to implement the provisions of 1963 Act, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Bill was introduced in the Parliament.[2]. The law contravenes the requirements of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.[3]

History

Pursuant to the acceptance by Government of a unanimous recommendation of the Committee on National Integration and Regionalism appointed by the National Integration Council, the Constitution (Sixteenth Amendment) Act, 1963, was enacted empowering Parliament to impose, by law, reasonable restrictions in the interests of sovereignty and integrity of India, on the:

  1. Freedom of Speech and Expression;
  2. Right to Assemble peaceably and without arms; and
  3. Right to Form Associations or Unions.

The object of this bill was to make powers available for dealing with activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty of India. The bill was passed by both the Houses of Parliament and received the assent of the President on 30 December 1967. The Amending Acts are as follows:

  1. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 1967[4]
  2. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1972
  3. The Delegated Legislation Provisions (Amendment) Act, 1986
  4. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2004
  5. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2008
  6. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2012[5]
  7. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019[6]

This last Amendment was enacted after POTA was withdrawn by the Parliament. However, in the Amendment Act in 2004, most of provisions of POTA were re-incorporated. In 2008, after Mumbai attacks, it was further strengthened. The most recent amendment has been done in 2019. According to the statement of objects and reasons, the Bill amends the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 to make it more effective in preventing unlawful activities, and meet commitments made at the Financial Action Task Force (an intergovernmental organization to combat money laundering and terrorism financing).[7]


In July 2019, in an unprecedented turn of events, the ambit of UAPA was expanded. It was amended allowing the government to designate an individual as a terrorist without trial. Besides being in absolute violation of international human rights law and the Constitution of India, this amendment opened the floodgate to further harassment of human rights defenders and activists.According to the National Crime Record Bureau, in 2018, over 93% of cases under UAPA were pending before the courts whereas the conviction rate was only 27%. This indicates that anti-terror trials rarely result in a conviction.[8]

Notable arrests made under the Act

See also

References
  1. "UAPA, 1967 at NIA.gov.in" (PDF). NIA. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  2. "The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act" (PDF). Nia.gov.in.
  3. "OHCHR | International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  4. "The unlawful activities (prevention) Act, 1967" (PDF). Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  5. "The Unlawful Activities Prevention (Amendment) Act, 2012" (PDF). Government of India. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  6. "The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019" (PDF). Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  7. "PRS | Bill Track | The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2011". www.prsindia.org. 29 December 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  8. "Injustice In The Courts: Four Indian Laws That Should Have Never Existed". Amnesty International India. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  9. Aman Sethi (24 December 2010). "Life term for Binayak Sen". The Hindu. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  10. "City court acquits man held under UAPA after 7 years". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  11. R.sivaraman (9 August 2018). "May 17 Movement leader Thirumurugan Gandhi held in Bengaluru on charges of sedition". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  12. "The People's Fighters: Meet the Five Arrested in the Bhima Koregaon Case". The Wire. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  13. "Unwilling to Give Delhi High Court Details of Navlakha's 'Hasty Transfer', NIA Gets SC Stay".
  14. "Kerala: 2 CPI(M) activists held for alleged links with Maoists". India Today. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  15. DelhiApril 22, Arvind Ojha New; April 22, 2020UPDATED:; Ist, 2020 18:13. "Delhi riots case: Suspended AAP councillor Tahir Hussain booked under UAPA". India Today. Retrieved 22 April 2020.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. "Crackdown amid corona: Kashmir police book photojournalist Masrat Zahra under UAPA to send a message". Caravan. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  17. "Delhi violence: UAPA against students 'grave abuse of state power', says civil society group". Scroll. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  18. "No immediate Supreme Court relief for anti-CAA activist Sharjeel Imam". The Hindu. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
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