Prosecution objects to Ashish Mishra’s discharge application

NEW DELHI: A total of 326 cases were registered in the country under the controversial colonial era law of sedition between 2014 and 2019 in which just six persons were convicted.

According to the Union Home Ministry data, a total of 326 cases were registered under the sedition law — the highest, 54, in Assam — between 2014 and 2019.

Out of the cases registered, chargesheets were filed in 141 cases while only six people were convicted for the offence in six years of the period discussed in the data, officials said.

In Assam, out of the 54 sedition cases registered, chargesheets were filed in 26 cases and trials were completed in 25 cases.

However, not a single case led to conviction between 2014 and 2019, the data says.

Jharkhand registered 40 cases under the Section 124 (A) during the six years, out of which chargesheets were filed in 29 cases, and trials were completed in 16 cases. Only one person was convicted out of all these cases filed in the state.

In Haryana, 31 cases were registered under the sedition law with chargesheets filed in 19 cases, and trials completed in six cases. Here too, only one person was convicted.

Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, and Kerala registered an equal number of cases, 25, under the sedition law.

While Bihar and Kerala could not file chargesheet in any of the cases, Jammu and Kashmir filed it in three cases. However, no such case registered in the three states between 2014 and 2019 led to conviction.

Twenty-two sedition cases were filed in Karnataka with

LAKHIMPUR KHERI (UP): The prosecution filed its objections to the discharge application of Ashish Mishra, the main accused in the Tikunia violence case, in the court of the district and sessions judge here on Tuesday.

The discharge applications of five other co-accused -- Ankit Das, Latif alias Kale, Satyam Tripathi, Shekhar Bharti and Nandan Singh Bisht -- were also moved in the court of District and Sessions Judge Mukesh Mishra through their counsel on Monday, District Government Counsel (DGC), Criminal, Arvind Tripathi said.

Tripathi said the prosecution urged the court to grant some time for filing its objections to the discharge applications of the five aforesaid accused.

The court has fixed May 24 as the next date of hearing in the matter, the DGC informed.

Earlier, Ashish Mishra, who is in jail along with 12 coaccused in connection with the killing of four farmers and a journalist at Tikunia in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar chargesheets filed in 17 cases, but trial could be completed in only one case. The state too had zero conviction under sedition law in six years.

Seventeen sedition cases were filed in Uttar Pradesh and eight in West Bengal between 2014 and 2019. While chargesheets were filed in eight cases in UP and in five cases in West Bengal, no one was convicted in the two states.

In Delhi, four sedition cases were registered between 2014 and 2019, no chargesheet has been filed in any case, nor has anyone been convicted.

No sedition case was filed in Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Chandigarh, Daman and

Pradesh on October 3 last year, was produced in the court amid tight police security during the trial of the case.

The other accused were also brought to the court for their presence during the trial.

Four farmers and a journalist were mowed down by a speeding vehicle on the fateful day. In the ensuing violence, two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and the driver of a vehicle were also killed by an agitated mob.

Two FIRs were lodged in connection with the violence.

In the first FIR (number 219), dealing with the deaths of the four farmers and the journalist, Ashish Mishra, the son of Union minister Ajay Mishra, was named while the subsequent FIR (number 220), dealing with the deaths of the two BJP workers and the driver, was lodged against unidentified assailants.

The SIT probing the incident has filed chargesheets in connection with both the FIRs in the court.

Both the cases are under trial in the district and sessions court.

Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli in the six-year period.

One sedition case each was filed in Maharashtra (in 2015), Punjab (2015), and Uttarakhand (2017).

According to the home ministry data, 2019 saw the highest, 93, sedition cases registered in the country.

In 2018, there were filed 70 such cases, followed by 51 in 2017, 47 in 2014, 35 in 2016, and 30 in 2015.

Four chargesheets were filed in the country in 2019 under the sedition law, 38 in 2018, 27 in 2017, 16 in 2016, 14 in 2014, and six in 2015.

Among the six convicted, two got the sentence in 2018 and one each in 2019, 2017, 2016, and 2014.

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday announced that the state government will set up a single-window in every district to ensure speedy clearances to industrialists.

During an interactive meeting with the industrial tycoons here, the Chief Minister said that these single windows will enable the industrialists to get clearances for their projects in a prompt, smooth and hasslefree manner.

He said that the process of single windows in every district will enable the industrialists to get clearances without running pillar to post in several offices thereby saving a lot of time, money, and energy. Mann said that the state government is duty-bound to facilitate the investors/ entrepreneurs in a big way.

Showcasing Punjab as the most favourable investment destination, the Chief Minister said that the industrial friendly policies of the state government coupled with the hard-working and dedicated manpower is a rarest of rare combination which is needed for accelerating the pace of industrial growth. He said that the state government aims at making Punjab a front-runner state in industrial growth thereby propelling into a high growth trajectory.

Mann said that ushering an era of industrial growth will help in the progress of the state on one hand and the prosperity of its people on the other.

He said that the state is already roping in industrial tycoons from across the country to set up their ventures in the state. He said that the Punjab government is committed to giving impetus to industrial growth in the state and no stone will be left unturned for this noble cause.

Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, and Kerala registered an equal number of cases, 25, under the sedition law