Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 · Chapter I
UAPA Sections 1 and 2: Extent, Application and Definitions
Sections 1 and 2 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (Act 37 of 1967) establish the reach of the Act and explain the legal expressions used in its provisions on unlawful associations and terrorist activities.
Section 1: Short title, extent and application
Section 1 identifies the legislation and sets out its territorial and extraterritorial reach. The following are its five operative sub-sections:
(1) The Act is called the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967).
(2) It extends to the whole of India.
(3) A person is liable to punishment under the Act for any contravening act or omission of which that person is found guilty in India.
(4) A person committing an offence outside India that is punishable under the Act is dealt with as though the act had been committed in India.
(5) The Act also applies to (a) Indian citizens outside India; (b) persons serving the Government, wherever located; and (c) persons on ships and aircraft registered in India, wherever located.
Section 1 was substituted by the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2004 (Act 29 of 2004), effective 21 September 2004.
Section 2: Definitions under the UAPA
Section 2(1) supplies the meanings of key expressions unless the context requires otherwise. The clauses below retain the statutory substance, with amendment markers and editorial footnote symbols removed for readability.
Clause (a) "association" means any combination or body of individuals;
Clause (b) "cession of a part of the territory of India" includes admission of the claim of any foreign country to any such part;
Clause (c) "Code" means the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974);
Clause (d) court means a criminal court having jurisdiction, under the Code, to try offences under this Act and includes a Special Court constituted under section 11 or under section 22 of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008;
Clause (e) "Designated Authority" means such officer of the Central Government not below the rank of Joint Secretary to that Government, or such officer of the State Government not below the rank of Secretary to that Government, as the case may be, as may be specified by the Central Government or the State Government, by notification published in the Official Gazette;
Clause (ea) "economic security" includes financial, monetary and fiscal stability, security of means of production and distribution, food security, livelihood security, energy security, ecological and environmental security;
Clause (eb) "Order" means the Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism (Implementation of Security Council Resolutions) Order, 2007, as may be amended from time to time;
Clause (ec) "person" includes--
Clause (i) an individual, (ii) a company, (iii) a firm, (iv) an organisation or an association of persons or a body of individuals, whether incorporated or not, (v) every artificial juridical person, not falling within any of the preceding sub-clauses, and (vi) any agency, office or branch owned or controlled by any person falling within any of the preceding sub-clauses;
Clause (f) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
Clause (g) "proceeds of terrorism" means,--
Clause (i) all kinds of properties which have been derived or obtained from commission of any terrorist act or have been acquired through funds traceable to a terrorist act, irrespective of person in whose name such proceeds are standing or in whose possession they are found; or (ii) any property which is being used, or is intended to be used, for a terrorist act or for the purpose of an individual terrorist or a terrorist gang or a terrorist organisation. Explanation.--For the purposes of this Act, it is hereby declared that the expression "proceeds of terrorism" includes any property intended to be used for terrorism;
Clause (h) "property" means property and assets of every description whether corporeal or incorporeal, movable or immovable, tangible or intangible and legal documents, deeds and instruments in any form including but not limited to electronic or digital, evidencing title to, or interest in, such property or assets by means of bank credits, travellers cheques, bank cheques, money orders, shares, securities, bonds, drafts, letters of credit, cash and bank account including fund, however acquired;
Clause (ha) "Schedule" means a Schedule to this Act;
Clause (i) "secession of a part of the territory of India from the Union" includes the assertion of any claim to determine whether such part will remain a part of the territory of India;
Clause (j) "State Government", in relation to a Union territory, means the Administrator thereof;
Clause (k) "terrorist act" has the meaning assigned to it in section 15, and the expressions "terrorism" and "terrorist" shall be construed accordingly;
Clause (l) "terrorist gang" means any association, other than terrorist organisation, whether systematic or otherwise, which is concerned with, or involved in, terrorist act;
Clause (m) terrorist organisation means an organisation listed in the First Schedule or an organisation operating under the same name as an organisation so listed;
Clause (n) "Tribunal" means the Tribunal constituted under section 5;
Clause (o) "unlawful activity", in relation to an individual or association, means any action taken by such individual or association (whether by committing an act or by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representation or otherwise),--
Clause (i) which is intended, or supports any claim, to bring about, on any ground whatsoever, the cession of a part of the territory of India or the secession of a part of the territory of India from the Union, or which incites any individual or group of individuals to bring about such cession or secession; or (ii) which disclaims, questions, disrupts or is intended to disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India; or (iii) which causes or is intended to cause disaffection against India;
Clause (p) "unlawful association" means any association,--
Clause (i) which has for its object any unlawful activity, or which encourages or aids persons to undertake any unlawful activity, or of which the members undertake such activity; or (ii) which has for its object any activity which is punishable under section 153A (45 of 1860) or section 153B of the Indian Penal Code, or which encourages or aids persons to undertake any such activity, or of which the members undertake any such activity: Provided that nothing contained in sub-clause (ii) shall apply to the State of Jammu and Kashmir*;
Clause (q) words and expressions used but not defined in this Act and defined in the Code shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Code.
Section 2(2). Where a referenced enactment or provision is not in force in an area, the reference is construed as referring to the corresponding law or relevant provision, if any, in force in that area.
Legal context and amendments
The 2004 amendment recast the preliminary provisions. The 2008 amendment expanded the definition of court to cover Special Courts under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008 and added or revised other definitions. The 2013 amendment introduced economic security, broadened provisions concerning terrorism-related property and reorganised definitions. The 2019 amendment updated references to the First Schedule and to section 22 of the National Investigation Agency Act.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 came into force on 1 July 2024, replacing the IPC and CrPC for the general criminal-law framework, subject to repeal, savings and transitional provisions. Some published UAPA compilations continue to reproduce the original references to the IPC and CrPC in section 2. Those references should be read with the applicable repeal-and-savings and construction provisions, including section 531 of the BNSS and section 358 of the BNS, rather than silently changing the wording of the UAPA.
The historical proviso in section 2(1)(p)(ii) concerning the former State of Jammu and Kashmir must be read in light of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 and the notification extending the UAPA to the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh (S.O. 3912(E), 30 October 2019). It should not be treated as a present-day blanket exemption.
Interpretation: Section 2 defines terms; criminal liability, procedural powers, designation of organisations and punishment arise under the relevant operative provisions of the UAPA. For an authoritative and current legal position, consult the statutory text, amendments, applicable notifications and judicial decisions.
Official legislation and references
Last reviewed: 6 October 2026. This article is a legal information resource, not a substitute for the official Gazette or professional advice.
