More than 1,500 cases were registered under IPC Section 153A that penalises promoting enmity between different groups, including the offence of hate speech, across India in 2022, a 31.25 per cent increase from 2021 but a 15.57 per cent decline from 2020, according to the NCRB.

Last year, the maximum of these 1,523 cases were lodged in Uttar Pradesh (217) followed by Rajasthan (191), Maharashtra (178), Tamil Nadu (146), Telangana (119), Andhra Pradesh (109) and Madhya Pradesh (108), the data showed.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which functions under the Union ministry of home affairs, is tasked with collection and analysis of crime data from all states and Union Territories, the figures of which are published annually in its report.

In 2022, nine states registered over 100 cases under IPC Section 153A, while in 2021 there were just two states — Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh — with such offences in three digits. Both Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh had reported 108 IPC 153A offences in 2021, according to the data.

In 2020, there were seven states with over 100 such cases each — Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. The maximum, 303 cases, were reported in Tamil Nadu in 2020, the NCRB data from the corresponding year showed.

In 2022, the number of such offences nearly tripled to 108 in Madhya Pradesh from 38 in 2021. The state had recorded 73 such cases in 2020, official figures showed.

In some states, the figures increased to more than double in 2022 from 2021, like Uttar Pradesh (217 and 108), Maharashtra (178 and 75), Rajasthan (191 and 83), and Gujarat (40 and 11).

Assam, which had reported 147 offences under IPC 153A in 2020, registered 75 cases in 2021 and last year the figure came down to 44, according to the NCRB report

National capital Delhi recorded 26 cases in 2022, 17 in 2021 and 36 in 2020. Jammu and Kashmir showed 16 such offences in 2022, 28 in 2021 and 22 in 2020, the official data revealed.

In a note of caution about the annual report, the NCRB said the primary presumption that the upward swing in police data indicates an increase in crime and thus a reflection of the ineffectiveness of the police is fallacious.

Security personnel stand guard near the Krishna Janambhoomi temple and Shahi Eidgah in Mathura on Wednesday on the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya. PTI picture

Ayodhya

Ayodhya was on high alert on Wednesday, the 31st anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid, as the town prepares for the inauguration of the Ram temple on January 22 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mathura and Varanasi also remained on tenterhooks against the backdrop of Hindutva groups clamouring for the removal of the Shahi Idgah and the Gyanvapi Masjid, respectively.

Raj Karan Nayyar, the SSP of Ayodhya, said they were keeping a watch on social media posts and had appealed to the people not to get carried away by rumours. “Three companies of paramilitary forces and about 500 policemen have been deployed,” he said.

Mathura police detained 40 members of Hindutva groups for trying to take out a procession towards the Sri Krishna Janmasthan temple.