A 3-judge Bench of the Supreme Court is set to hear the Central Bureau of Investigation’s plea challenging the Delhi High Court’s decision to suspend the life sentence and grant bail to expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case. The hearing, scheduled for Monday, involves a vacation bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Augustine George Masih. The CBI’s move comes after the Delhi High Court’s order on December 23 allowed Sengar’s plea for suspension of sentence pending his appeal.
The CBI and the victim’s family had expressed their intention to appeal the Delhi High Court’s ruling before the Supreme Court. Following the suspension of Sengar’s sentence, family members of the survivor, supported by women’s rights activists, have voiced their dissent, citing concerns about public trust and the message it sends on crimes against women. The CBI had vehemently opposed Sengar’s plea in the Delhi High Court, emphasizing the severity of the crime and associated risks.
In a recent order, a division bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar suspended Sengar’s life sentence and granted him conditional bail during the appeal process, subject to strict conditions. The Unnao rape case, which sparked widespread outrage, saw Sengar convicted in December 2019 for kidnapping and raping a minor girl, leading to a life sentence and a fine of Rs 25 lakh. The Supreme Court had earlier transferred all related cases from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi, instructing for a day-to-day trial.
