Over two dozen cases under controversial British-era sedition law, which was put on hold by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, were registered in Jammu & Kashmir from 2014 to 2019.
Official data reveals that 25 cases under sedition were registered in the erstwhile state from 2014 to 2019. In 2015 and 2017 one case each under the sedition law was registered J&K when the PDP-BJP alliance was in power.
In 2018, when J&K was still under PDP-BJP rules, the sedition cases saw a huge spike in J&K with 12 cases registered. In 2019 when the government of India abrogated Article 370 and reorganized the erstwhile state into two Union Territories, 11 cases were registered under sedition law in J&K.
The Apex Court on Wednesday ordered that no new FIRs will be filed for sedition and all pending cases will be on hold while the government reconsiders the law.
In J&K, Public Security Act (PSA), preventive detention legislation that allows the authorities to detain a person without conviction for up to two years if they are deemed a threat to public order or national security, is used frequently against the accused compared to the sedition laws.
PSA has been retained even after the adaptation and extension of central laws to Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370 and downgrading of the erstwhile station into two union territories in August 2019.
Published 12 May 2022, 09:23 IST