Supreme Court will hear the CBI’s challenge to the suspension of Kuldeep Sengar’s life sentence on December 29.
Delhi High Court suspended Sengar’s life term citing over seven years of incarceration, pending appeal.
Sengar remains in jail due to a separate 10-year sentence in the custodial death of the survivor’s father.
Unnao Rape Case: SC To hear CBI Challenge To Kuldeep Sengar Sentence Suspension On 29th
CBI challenges Delhi High Court order suspending life term of expelled BJP leader; survivor’s father custodial death sentence keeps Sengar in jail
Summary
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on December 29 a plea filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging a Delhi High Court order that suspended the life sentence of expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case.
According to PTI, the apex court’s cause list for December 29 shows that the matter will be taken up by a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices J K Maheshwari and Augustine George Masih. Besides the CBI’s petition, the bench will also hear a separate plea filed by advocates Anjale Patel and Pooja Shilpkar, which also challenges the high court’s decision.
The Delhi High Court, on December 23, suspended Sengar’s life sentence, observing that he had already spent seven years and five months in prison, PTI reported. The suspension of sentence will remain in force during the pendency of Sengar’s appeal against his conviction and sentence in the rape case.
The CBI moved the Supreme Court against the high court order on December 26, according to PTI. Sengar has challenged the December 2019 trial court verdict that convicted him in the Unnao rape case.
However, the former BJP MLA will continue to remain behind bars as he is also serving a 10-year sentence in connection with the custodial death of the rape survivor’s father. His appeal against the conviction in that case is pending, and he has sought suspension of sentence on the ground that he has already undergone a substantial period of incarceration.
While suspending the life term in the rape case, the high court imposed several conditions, directing Sengar to furnish a personal bond of Rs 15 lakh along with three sureties of the same amount. It also restrained him from entering within a five-kilometre radius of the survivor’s residence in Delhi and from threatening the survivor or her mother, warning that any violation would lead to cancellation of bail.
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The rape case and other related matters were transferred from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi on the Supreme Court’s directions on August 1, 2019.
(With inputs from PTI)
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