Unnao rape case: SC to examine Delhi HC order suspending Sengar’s life sentence on Monday

The Supreme Court will hear on December 29 a plea filed by the CBI challenging the Delhi High Court’s suspension of the life sentence awarded to expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case. The case, transferred to Delhi in 2019, continues to draw national attention.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear a plea filed by the CBI challenging a Delhi High Court order suspending the life sentence of expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case on December 29.

According to the apex court’s cause list for December 29, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices J K Maheshwari and Augustine George Masih is slated to hear the plea.

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Besides the plea filed by the CBI, the apex court will also hear a separate petition filed by advocates Anjale Patel and Pooja Shilpkar challenging the high court order.

On December 23, the high court suspended the jail term of Sengar, who was serving a life sentence in the 2017 Unnao rape case, saying he had already served seven years and five months in prison.

The CBI challenged the high court’s order in the top court on December 26. The high court suspended Sengar’s life term till the pendency of his appeal challenging his conviction and sentencing in the case.

Sengar has challenged the December 2019 trial court verdict in the case. However, the former BJP MLA will remain in jail as he is also serving a 10-year term for the custodial death of the rape survivor’s father.

Imposing several conditions, the high court had directed Sengar to furnish a personal bond of Rs 15 lakh with three sureties of the like amount.

It also directed him not to come within a 5-km radius of the survivor’s residence in Delhi and not to threaten her or her mother. Violation of any of the conditions would lead to the cancellation of bail, the high court said.

The rape case and other connected cases were transferred to Delhi from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh on the directions of the Supreme Court on August 1, 2019.

Sengar’s appeal against his conviction in the case of the custodial death of the survivor’s father is also pending, where he has sought suspension of sentence on the ground that he has already spent a substantial time in jail.