Unnao rape case: CBI to challenge High Court’s bail order for Kuldeep Sengar in Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) announced on Wednesday that it will immediately move the Supreme Court to challenge the suspension of the life sentence and grant of bail to former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case.

A spokesperson for the agency stated that the decision was taken after a thorough study of the orders passed by the division bench of the Delhi High Court. The agency intends to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the apex court at the earliest. During the High Court proceedings, both the CBI and the victim's family had vehemently opposed Sengar's appeal against his conviction, citing significant safety concerns and threats to the survivor.

Despite the High Court’s order, Sengar will remain incarcerated. He is currently serving a separate 10-year prison term related to the custodial death of the rape survivor's father.

On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court bench, comprising Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, suspended Sengar's sentence pending the outcome of his appeal against the 2019 trial court verdict. The bench noted that Sengar had already served seven years and five months in prison. The court imposed several conditions for the relief, including a personal bond of Rs 15 lakh and a directive prohibiting him from entering within a 5-km radius of the victim’s residence in Delhi or issuing threats to her family.

The judicial development triggered a volatile reaction on the streets and in political circles. The rape survivor and her mother staged a sit-in protest against the bail order but were forcibly removed by the Delhi Police. The visuals of this police action escalated the issue into a political slugfest, with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi condemning the treatment of the family.

Gandhi, who met the survivor and her mother at Sonia Gandhi’s 10, Janpath residence on Wednesday, questioned the justice system that grants bail to a convict while the survivor lives in fear. " Is such treatment of a gang-rape survivor appropriate? Is it her ‘fault’ that she gathered courage to raise her voice for justice? Bail for rapists and treating survivors like criminals — what kind of justice is this? We are not just becoming a dead economy — with such inhuman incidents, we are also turning into a dead society," Gandhi stated in a post on X. During the meeting, the survivor requested assistance in engaging a senior lawyer to fight the case in the Supreme Court, a request Gandhi promised to fulfil.

The case dates back to 2017 when Sengar kidnapped and raped the survivor, who was a minor at the time. In August 2019, the Supreme Court directed the transfer of the rape case and other connected matters from Uttar Pradesh to a trial court in Delhi to ensure fair proceedings. Sengar was subsequently convicted in December 2019.

(Inputs from PTI)