Delhi, Dec 29: The Supreme Court on December 29 put on hold a Delhi High Court order that had suspended the life sentence of former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case, effectively ensuring that he remained behind bars.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant heard a petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation challenging the High Court’s December 23 decision to suspend Sengar’s life imprisonment after he had completed more than seven years in custody. After considering arguments from both sides, the apex court stayed the High Court’s order, citing the presence of significant legal issues that required detailed examination.
The bench said it normally refrained from intervening once a release order had been passed, but noted that the present case involved exceptional circumstances. It pointed out that Sengar had already been convicted in another serious offence, which warranted judicial intervention at this stage. The court directed that a counter-affidavit be filed within four weeks and issued notice to Sengar on the CBI’s appeal, while making it explicit that he would not be released pursuant to the High Court ruling.
Sengar, who was expelled from the BJP following his conviction, was found guilty of kidnapping and raping a minor girl in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, in 2017 and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Despite the High Court suspending his sentence in the rape case, he continued to be lodged in jail as he was also serving a separate 10-year sentence in the custodial death case of the survivor’s father and had not secured bail in that matter.
Welcoming the Supreme Court’s intervention, the survivor’s counsel Hemant Kumar Maurya said the order had brought relief to his client. He said the apex court had made it clear that the convicted politician would not walk free.
The matter is scheduled to come up for further hearing in January.
