-Frontline.in Senior advocate Rebecca Mammen John on how the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the National Investigation Agency are being “weaponised” against Indians who hold a different viewpoint from the government. Rebecca Mammen John, Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India, believes that a larger public debate, along with consistent judicial interventions, is the need of the hour if the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) is to be removed from...

-The Hindu Notes several instances of govt pressure on media outlets Washington DC: In its 2020 Human Rights Report, the U.S. State Department said the harassment and detention of journalists critical of the (Indian) government in their reporting and on social media, has continued, although the government generally respected the freedom of expression. It also said government’s requests for user data from Internet companies had increased “dramatically.” The report, which is submitted each...

-The Hindu Home Ministry presents data in the Rajya Sabha. Only 2.2 % of cases registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act between the years 2016-2019 ended in convictions by court, according to data presented by the Union Home Ministry in the Rajya Sabha. Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy informed the Upper House that as per the 2019 Crime in India Report compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau...

-The Indian Express Highest court does well to underline what it should do. Hopefully, it listens to itself — and stands up for a stand-up comedian. Granting interim bail within a day to Arnab Goswami in a 2018 suicide abetment case, Supreme Court Justice DY Chandrachud correctly described the responsibility of the apex court: “Forget Arnab Goswami for a moment, we are a constitutional court… If we as a constitutional court do...

-ThePrint.in In recent years, sedition and UAPA have been weaponised against critics of the govt. National Crime Records Bureau’s recently-released data confirms this. A journalist from Kerala was accused of sedition and various offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, (UAPA) and arrested on the way to Hathras on October 7. In recent years, sedition and UAPA have been weaponised and used routinely against critics of various ruling governments. Data from...