Unnao rape case: CBI files petition in Supreme Court; challenges suspension of Kuldeep Sengar’s life term | India News
NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi high court’s order suspending the life sentence of former BJP MLA and Unnao rape convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar.According to a CBI spokesperson, the decision was taken after examining the order passed by the high court’s division bench.
The agency’s move came three days after the HC granted relief to Sengar, an order that sparked widespread outrage and led to protests by the survivor and her mother.The survivor of the June 2017 crime had already said she would approach the top court.On Tuesday, a division bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar ordered the suspension of Sengar’s sentence during the pendency of his appeal against conviction and life imprisonment, subject to the furnishing of a bail bond of Rs 15 lakh. While granting the relief, the bench imposed strict conditions, directing that the politician shall not enter a five-kilometre radius of the area in Delhi where the survivor resides. He has also been ordered to remain in the national capital and to have no contact with the victim or her family members.Senior advocate N Hariharan, along with advocate SP Tripathi, appeared for Sengar and argued that their client was not a public servant at the time of the offence. They also contended that there were “discrepancies” in documents relating to the survivor’s age and said medical evidence should be relied upon. Opposing the bail, advocate Mehmood Pracha, appearing for the survivor, submitted that there had been “serious threats” to her life in the past. Pracha pointed out that she had earlier been provided security, which was later withdrawn, and highlighted that her father was assaulted in police custody and later died due to his injuries — a case in which Sengar was separately convicted. The former MLA remains in judicial custody as he has not been granted bail in that case, for which he was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. He has also challenged his conviction and sentence in that matter.The Uttar Pradesh government transferred the investigation to the CBI in April 2018. In August 2019, the Supreme Court shifted the case and all related proceedings from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi to ensure a fair and speedy trial. Sengar was convicted and sentenced in December that year.
