Cases relating to ‘Sedition’ and those registered under the UAPA have been discussed widely in the last few years. Data indicates that the three states of Manipur, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam accounted for more than 70% of the cases registered under UAPA between 2014 & 2020. On the other hand, the nine states of Assam, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and Manipur accounted for more than 75% of the cases registered under Sedition. Recently, the Tripura Police charged lawyers and social media handles under the anti-terrorism law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA). The social media handles were booked for making posts, which according to the police, had the ‘potential to flare up communal tension’ in the state. Besides, there have been numerous discussions surrounding the legislations of UAPA and Sedition law in India for the past few years, on the utility and use of these laws. Even the Supreme Court, earlier this year, expressed concern over the misuse of the sedition law- Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which was framed in the colonial era. The court asked the Union government why the law should not be struck down while hearing a petition filed by a retired Army general, challenging the constitutional validity of Section 124A (sedition) of the IPC. Comprehensive information on ‘Offences Against the State’ published by NCRB since 2014 As per the information provided in the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), offences against the State include those crimes under both IPC and Special & Local laws which involve criminal activities that are directed against the existence of the state itself such as treason, sedition and rebellion. Sedition (Section 124A) is a crime under IPC while UAPA falls under the category of ‘SLL Crimes’ in the annual Crime in India report released by the NCRB. There are other provisions such as sections 121, 121A, 122, 123, 153A and 153B of IPC, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, The Official Secrets Act, etc., the cases under which are also reported under ‘offences against the State’. The NCRB report began publishing comprehensive information on ‘Offences Against the State’ only since 2014. Cases under ‘Offences Against the State’ reduced since 2017 According to the NCRB Crime in India (CII) report, a total of 5,613 cases of ‘offences against the State’ were registered by police across the country in 2020 alone. This includes 796 cases under UAPA and 73 cases under Sedition. However, this number is the least since 2015. The number of registered cases of ‘offences against the state’ increased from over 5,000 in 2014 to more than 9,000 cases in 2017- an increase of nearly 67% in three years. However, since 2017, the number of cases has been reducing. The number in 2020 is the lowest since 2015. During the seven-year period (2014 to 2020), the cases registered under UAPA, and Sedition together constituted nearly 15% of all the cases registered under this head. Of the total 49,000 odd cases registered during this period, a total of 6,900 cases were registered under UAPA and 399 cases were registered under Sedition. An average of 986 cases under UAPA & 57 under Sedition registered annually since 2014 An average of 986 cases were registered under UAPA and 57 under Sedition, annually since 2014. While the number of cases under UAPA went up from 897 in 2015 to more than 1200 in 2019, the number dropped to below 800 in 2020, the year of the pandemic. This reduction is in line with the overall reduction in the number of crimes reported in the country. Meanwhile, the number of cases registered under Sedition crossed 50 in 2017 and touched the highest of 93 cases in 2019 and subsequently dropped to 73 in 2020. Three states account for more than 70% of cases registered under UAPA Of the total 6,900 cases registered during 2014 & 2020 under the UAPA, Manipur accounted for the highest number of cases with 2,595 accounting for almost 38% of such cases. Jammu & Kashmir is next in line with 1,208 cases followed by Assam with 1,071 cases. The three states which were the only ones to have reported more than 1,000 cases each accounted for nearly 71% of the cases registered in the country. Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, and Kerala were the other states which reported more than 100 cases each. These five states along with Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, and Manipur, accounted for more than 95% of the cases registered in India. Numbers clearly indicate that more such cases are registered in the Northeastern states. Large states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Telangana had fewer than 10 cases registered under UAPA during the seven-year period of 2014 & 2020.