Supreme Court Halts Release of Kuldeep Singh Sengar in Unnao Rape Case

Supreme Court Intervenes in High Court Decision

New Delhi: On Monday, the Supreme Court put a hold on the Delhi High Court's decision to suspend the life sentence of Kuldeep Singh Sengar, a former BJP leader, who was convicted in the 2017 Unnao rape case.

A vacation bench, which included Chief Justice Surya Kant along with Justices J K Maheshwari and Augustine George Masih, issued a notice to Sengar, requesting his response to the CBI's appeal against the high court's ruling.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, urged the bench to maintain the high court's order.

The bench indicated that the case warranted further examination, stating that Sengar would not be released from custody based on the high court's December 23 ruling.

The bench noted that significant legal questions needed to be addressed and scheduled the next hearing for four weeks later.

The high court had previously suspended Sengar's sentence, citing that he had already spent seven years and five months in prison.

His sentence was put on hold pending the outcome of his appeal against the conviction and sentence related to the rape case, which he is contesting following a December 2019 trial court ruling.

Despite this development, Sengar will remain incarcerated as he is also serving a 10-year sentence for the custodial death of the victim's father and has not been granted bail in that matter.

The Supreme Court had ordered the transfer of the rape case and related matters to Delhi from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh on August 1, 2019.