New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday deferred hearing the CBI's challenge to expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar's bail in the 2017 Unnao rape case, citing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's unavailability. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi set it for two weeks later.
The court permitted the rape survivor's impleadment application, affirming her right to be heard in the CBI's special leave petition (SLP).
It dismissed, however, an intervention plea by the survivor's cousin—a minor son of her paternal uncle—seeking protection due to threats if Sengar gets bail. "Avail your independent remedy before the High Court for protection of life and liberty," the bench directed.
Sengar's counsel, senior advocate N. Hariharan, pressed for an early hearing, noting the Delhi High Court's liberty had been curtailed by the Supreme Court's prior interim order. The CJI assured a final hearing date soon.
The CBI contests the Delhi High Court's December 2025 order suspending Sengar's life sentence and granting conditional bail pending appeal—a move that sparked protests from the survivor's family and activists over eroding public faith in women's justice.
In December 2019, a trial court convicted Sengar of kidnapping and raping a minor, sentencing him to life with a Rs 25 lakh fine. The Supreme Court had shifted related cases from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi for daily trials and, last December, stayed his release.
(Inputs from IANS)