ABDUL BARI MASOUD
NEW DELHI: A group of more than 110 prominent retired civil servants and Police officers on Monday expressed grave concern over the gross misuse of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) at the hands of ruling politicians. They termed the UAPA in present form a serious threat to the freedom of citizens and to democracy. They demanded to enact a fresh law to replace UAPA after consulting legal experts and taking into account the views of Parliament.
In an open letter to the Union Government and to general citizens, retired civil servants said (UAPA violates the Constitutional guarantees of citizens’ fundamental rights.
“Though this law has been in existence in India’s statute books for over five decades, the harsh amendments it has gone through in recent years has made it draconian, repressive, and amenable to gross misuse at the hands of ruling politicians and the police”.
Typical of such misuse are the cases of the three anti-CAA student protestors – Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal and Asif Iqbal Tanha – who were arrested under UAPA without any valid grounds but were recently granted bail by the Delhi High Court in a detailed and unprecedented order, they undelined.
On 9 March 2021, the Union Minister of State for Home, G. Kishan Reddy, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, admitted to the uncommon overuse of the UAPA. He confirmed that 1948 persons were arrested under the UAPA in 1226 cases across the country in 2019, which showed a 72% increase as compared to 2015. (Muslim Mirror)
