Delhi University professor Ratan Lal was arrested on May 20 over a social media post related to the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi. He was arrested under Sections 153A (promoting enmity on the ground of religion, race, and place of birth) and 295A (deliberate act to outrage religious feelings) of the IPC. Data show that cases under Section 153A have increased by six times in 2020 compared to 2014. Among select major crimes, cases registered under Section 153A have among the lowest conviction rates (20.2%) and the second highest police pendency rate (64.3%).
All India cases
The chart shows the number of cases filed under Section 153A over the years. The number of cases has almost doubled in the past three years to 1,804 and is six times higher than the 2014 figure.
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State-wise cases
The chart shows the average number of cases filed under Section 153A during two periods: 2015-2017 (indicated by a plus sign) and 2018-2020 (indicated by a circle). During the 2018-2020 period, T.N. recorded an average of 189 cases. During the 2018- 2020 period, Tamil Nadu recorded an average of 189 cases, a considerable jump from the average of 46 cases recorded in the period before. Other notable increases were recorded in Telangana, Assam, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Poor conviction, higher pendency
The chart shows how cases filed under 153A fare in terms of the chargesheeting rate, police pendency rate, and conviction rate in 2020. Chargesheeting rate refers to the cases chargesheeted as a % of cases reported in 2020. Police pendency rate refers to the cases pending investigation at the end of 2020 as a % of cases that are up for investigation at the start of the year. Conviction rate refers to the cases ending in conviction as a % of the cases for which the trial was completed in 2020.
Source: NCRB
Also read: Data | Tamil Nadu records most custodial deaths in South India
