The Supreme Court stays Kuldeep Singh Sengar’s life sentence suspension and bail on Monday; granted by Delhi High court in Unnao rape case.
The Delhi High court granted bail to Sengar in the Unnao minor rape case last week, suspending his sentence during his appeals pending against convictions. The CBI challenged this order in Supreme Court.
The survivor, her family and women activists held multiple protests at India gate and outside Delhi High court.
The Supreme Court Stays Sengar’s Bail In Unnao Rape Case
The Supreme Court on Monday, stayed Kuldeep Singh Sengar’s life sentence suspension and bail granted by the Delhi High court in Unnao minor rape and kidnapping case. Sengar is serving a life imprisonment after conviction in 2017 in this case. However, the survivor was not made a party in this plea by the CBI.
Summary
The Supreme Court on Monday morning, stayed Kuldeep Singh Sengar’s life sentence suspension and bail granted by Delhi High court. This has been an interim relief to the survivor till the supreme court hears the case again on merits after four weeks.
Four time BJP MLA (later expelled) Kuldeep Singh Sengar has been convicted in the Unnao rape and kidnapping of minor case. He is serving life imprisonment for the same 2017 rape case and 10 years sentence in the case of custodial death of the survivor's father. While his two appeals are pending against these two convictions before the high court, he was granted bail, suspending his jail term by the Delhi High court last week.
This triggered multiple protests by the survivor, her family and activists including Yogita Bhayana. While public outrage was mounting for a week against Sengar’s bail, the CBI challenged Sengar’s bail and sentence suspension in the supreme court.
The vacation bench of the supreme court, comprising CJI Surya Kant, justice J K Maheshwari and justice Augustine Masih heard the case on Monday morning, December 29, 2025 which challenged Sengar’s bail. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta argued on behalf of the CBI, explaining how the case affected survivor, while Sengar has been person in power.
2019 amendment in Pocso Act with regards to the punishment was also the point of arguments by the CBI. Though seven years is the minimum punishment that Sengar has already undergone under POCSO Act, the aggravated maximum punishment of the life sentence shall be taken into consideration, argued CBI. There should be a broader ambit to define the public servant or representative, said CBI and added that it is answerable to serve justice to the minor (who is now an adult).
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However Mehmood Pracha lawyer of the survivor said while speaking to the media, "the Supreme court's order and CBI's arguments are just tip of the iceberg. For us its not a big victory, it's a small relief that gave us breathing space. We didn't get space to argue the case on merit, CBI didn't made us party in the appeal case."
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