KOCHI: In the past five years, Kerala Police have extensively evoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), which has stringent bail procedures compared to much liberal bail process under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Though 145 UAPA cases were registered in the state between May 25, 2016, and May 19, 2021, the state police chief sought permission for prosecution approval from the government for eight cases.
Only three eventually received the clearance. Legal experts say this implies that in many cases, the accused remained incarcerated for up to six months without provision for bail because an officer decided to evoke UAPA.
The data on UAPA arrests and prosecution sanctions was revealed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the assembly on June 7 to a question submitted by A P Anil Kumar, MLA.
“Police can misuse UAPA. Availing of bail in UAPA cases is not easy. While an accused becomes eligible for automatic bail after 90 days in IPC, this time frame is 180 days under UAPA,” said former director-general of prosecutions T Asaf Ali.
Advocate Isac Sanjay, who has been handling such cases, said UAPA gives far-reaching powers to police.
“In many UAPA cases, the charges don’t stand, and are dropped eventually for want of proof. But the jailed person faces huge trauma during trial. Police should not be allowed to evoke UAPA without solid evidence. In many cases, the charges are leveled based on surmises. But those evoking UAPA charges against a person should be made accountable if the charges are dropped later,” he said.
“There should be a mechanism where the court orders a probe after UAPA charges are dropped. It should look for any misuse of UAPA, and if there is any, the official concerned and state should be held accountable,” he said.However, police deny any misuse of the Act.
“These 145 cases do not mean 145 individuals. Many face multiple UAPA cases. These people face delay in availing of bail due to delay in getting sanction from statutory authority formed for prosecution clearance as per Section 45(2) of the Act,” said an offiier.
Cases so far
145 UAPA cases were registered in the state between May 25, 2016, and May 19, 2021
State police chief sought permission for prosecution approval from government for eight cases, onlythree get nod
Data was revealed by CM in the assembly on June 7 to a question by A P Anil Kumar, MLA