Unnao rape case: Delhi HC suspends Kuldeep Sengar’s jail term, grants bail
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New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday suspended the jail term of expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who is serving life imprisonment in the Unnao rape case, and granted him bail.
A bench comprising Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar released Sengar on bail, directing him to furnish a personal bond of Rs 15 lakh along with three sureties of a similar amount. The court also ordered that he must stay at least 5 km away from the survivor’s house and must not threaten her or her mother. "Violation of any of the conditions would lead to cancellation of bail," the bench said.
The High Court suspended Sengar’s sentence until the pendency of his appeal challenging his conviction and sentence in the rape case. He has filed the appeal against the December 2019 trial court verdict.
The minor girl at the centre of the case was kidnapped and raped by Sengar in 2017. The rape case, along with other connected cases, was transferred from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi on the directions of the Supreme Court on August 1, 2019.
Sengar’s appeal against his conviction in the case concerning the custodial death of the survivor’s father is also pending. In that case, he had been sentenced to 10 years in jail and has sought suspension of the sentence, citing the substantial time he has already spent in prison.
With PTI inputs