In a significant legal development, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has approached the Supreme Court of India to challenge a Delhi High Court order that suspended the life sentence of former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar. Sengar was convicted for the brutal rape of a minor girl in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, in 2017.
CBI's Legal Challenge in the Supreme Court
The federal investigation agency filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the apex court on Friday. This move comes just three days after a division bench of the Delhi High Court granted Sengar relief by suspending his life imprisonment during the pendency of his appeal. A CBI spokesperson confirmed the action, stating it was taken after a thorough examination of the high court's order.
The High Court's controversial order was passed on Tuesday by a bench comprising Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar. It allowed Sengar's release upon furnishing a bail bond of Rs 15 lakh. However, the court imposed stringent conditions, including a directive that the former MLA must not enter within a five-kilometer radius of the survivor's residence in Delhi. He has also been ordered to remain in the national capital and is prohibited from making any contact with the victim or her family members.
Arguments and Outrage Surrounding the Bail
The High Court's decision triggered widespread public outrage and led to protests by the survivor and her mother. The survivor had already declared her intention to approach the Supreme Court against the bail order.
During the bail hearing, Sengar's legal team, led by senior advocate N Hariharan and advocate SP Tripathi, argued that their client was not a public servant at the time of the offence in 2017. They also raised questions about discrepancies in documents concerning the survivor's age, suggesting that medical evidence should be given more weight.
Opposing the bail plea, advocate Mehmood Pracha, representing the survivor, highlighted the grave threats to her client's life. Pracha reminded the court that the survivor's father was assaulted in police custody and later died from his injuries – a separate case for which Sengar was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The lawyer also pointed out that security provided to the survivor had been withdrawn in the past.
Case Background and Judicial Journey
The Uttar Pradesh government handed over the investigation of the shocking June 2017 crime to the CBI in April 2018. In a bid to ensure a fair and speedy trial, the Supreme Court transferred the case and all related proceedings from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi in August 2019. Sengar was ultimately convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in December of that same year.
Despite the bail in the rape case, Kuldeep Sengar remains in judicial custody as he has not been granted bail in the connected case concerning the custodial death of the survivor's father, for which he received a 10-year sentence. He has also filed an appeal challenging his conviction and sentence in that matter.
The CBI's swift move to the Supreme Court underscores the sensitivity and high-profile nature of this case, which has become a symbol of the struggle for justice for survivors of sexual violence, especially those involving powerful political figures.
