The Supreme Court will hear CBI’s plea challenging the suspension of Kuldeep Singh Sengar’s life sentence in the 2017 Unnao rape case.

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court will hear the petition of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday, December 29. Delhi High Court order Which suspended the life sentence given to former Uttar Pradesh MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case.

The matter is listed before a vacation bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice Augustine George Masih. The Supreme Court is currently closed due to winter vacation and will resume regular sittings on January 5.

CBI filed special leave petition (SLP) on 26 December

Criticized the Delhi High Court’s decision to suspend Sengar’s sentence and grant him bail.

On December 23, the Delhi High Court suspended the life imprisonment awarded to expelled BJP leader Sengar and released him on bail on furnishing a personal bond of ₹15 lakh and three sureties of like amount. The high court also imposed strict conditions, including barring Sengar from entering within a 5-km radius of the victim’s residence and from contacting or threatening her mother. The court warned that any violation would lead to cancellation of bail.

The high court’s order was based on its finding that Sengar could not be sentenced to life imprisonment under the relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.

statutory limitsWhile the CBI urged the court to adopt a “purposive construction” of the law, the bench refused, saying that statutory definitions cannot be stretched beyond their plain meaning,

Court records further state that the trial court’s 2019 order was neither challenged by the survivor nor adequately supported by the CBI at that time. Subsequent efforts by the survivor’s family to seek conviction under Section 376(2)(f) and (k) of the IPC also failed.

A day after the High Court verdict, the Unnao rape case victim approached the Supreme Court after she was briefly detained along with her mother during a protest near Mandi House against the verdict.

Despite concerns being raised over his safety, the Delhi High Court found that Sengar had already served more than seven years and five months of his sentence and the mere possibility of threat was not enough to deny suspension of the sentence. It said the survivor will continue to get CRPF protection.

On December 27, the victim approached the CBI demanding registration of an FIR against the then investigating officer and alleged that the officer was in collusion with Sengar during the investigation.

The Supreme Court is set to examine the CBI’s challenge to the suspension of sentence when the matter comes up before a vacation bench on Monday.