New Delhi, Dec 29: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the operation of the Delhi High Court order that had suspended the life sentence and granted bail to expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case, ensuring that he will remain in jail.
A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, and comprising Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Augustine George Masih, observed that while such interim orders are ordinarily not stayed without hearing the released convict, the peculiar facts of the case warranted immediate intervention. “Where the convict is also convicted for a separate offence, we stay the operation of the Delhi High Court order,” the Bench said.
Issuing notice to Sengar on the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) plea, the apex court directed him to file a counter-affidavit within four weeks. The court also made it clear that Sengar would not be released pursuant to the impugned High Court order.
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, argued that the Delhi High Court had erred in holding that a legislator would not fall within the definition of a “public servant” under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for sentencing purposes. He submitted that such an interpretation would lead to an anomalous situation where even a police constable could be treated as a public servant under the law, while an elected legislator would stand excluded.
The Solicitor General also pointed out that the survivor was a minor—approximately 15 years and 10 months old—at the time of the offence. He further stressed that Sengar could not walk free as he is serving a separate 10-year sentence in connection with the 2018 death of the survivor’s father. Urging the court to consider the gravity of the crime, Mehta appealed for a stay “for the sake of the child who was a victim of this offence.”
The Supreme Court clarified that the survivor may file a separate special leave petition, if required, and assured legal aid through the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee.
Earlier, on December 23, the Delhi High Court had suspended Sengar’s life sentence and granted him conditional bail during the pendency of his appeal, triggering protests by the survivor’s family and women’s rights groups. In December 2019, a trial court had sentenced Sengar to imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life and imposed a fine of Rs 25 lakh.
