Kochi: A high-level meeting convened by the state government in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday decided to review all the UAPA cases registered in Kerala on a case by case basis before taking a final call on whether to frame UAPA charges or not.
A second review meeting will be held in the coming days. State police chief Loknath Behra, IG Suresh Raj Purohit, police officers investigating the UAPA cases, the representative of law department and senior government pleader Suman Chakravarthy attended the meeting.
At present, there are close to 40 cases in which the people concerned are charged with Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Recently, the police had framed UAPA charges against a writer and several human rights activists creating a controversy. Subsequently, the government decided to review the UAPA cases.
The state with the help of its legal team will review the authenticity of cases, including whether they were registered based on sufficient evidence and facts. The police officers will seek the assistance of the government law officers before finalising the review process.
Social media sites were abuzz with criticisms against the police decision to slap UAPA charges unnecessarily. Even Left supporters had been criticising the government. At present if UAPA is charged, it is difficult for the accused to get bail. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had been under attack for turning a blind eye to the instances of UAPA cases registered against human rights activists and writers.
