Unnao rape case: CBI moves Supreme court, challenging bail and suspension of Kuldeep Sengar's life term

The Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI) on Friday approached the Supreme Court to challenge the Delhi High Court’s decision to suspend the life sentence and grant bail to expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case, officials said, according to PTI.

The central agency filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the apex court against the high court’s order, they added. The move came after reviewing the orders of a division bench of the Delhi High Court related to the case.

A CBI spokesperson stated that it was decided to file the SLP at the earliest against the high court’s decision, which had granted bail to Sengar after suspending his life sentence. Despite this, Sengar will remain in prison as he is also serving a 10-year sentence for the custodial death of the rape survivor’s father.

The former MLA had appealed against his life sentence, a move strongly opposed by both the CBI and the victim’s family in the high court.

The statement had mentioned, “The CBI filed timely replies and written arguments in this matter. The family of the victim has also opposed the petition, citing safety and threats. The CBI will immediately challenge this order.”

Delhi HC on Kuldeep Sengar's life imprisonment in Unnao rape case

On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court suspended Sengar’s life imprisonment in the 2017 Unnao rape case, noting that he had already spent seven years and five months in jail. The suspension of his sentence will remain in effect while his appeal against the conviction and sentence is pending. Sengar had been convicted of kidnapping and raping the girl in 2017, when she was a minor.

He challenged a December 2019 trial court verdict in the case.

Imposing several conditions for bail, the high court bench comprising Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar directed Sengar to furnish a personal bond of ₹15 lakh with three sureties of the like amount.

It also ordered Sengar not to come within a 5-km radius of the victim's residence in Delhi, and not to issue threats to her or her mother.

Sengar had been convicted of kidnapping and raping the girl in 2017, when she was a minor.

Following Supreme Court directions, the rape case and related matters were transferred from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi on August 1, 2019.