The Supreme Court on Friday set aside the Delhi High Court order suspending the life sentence of former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the Unnao rape case and sent the matter back to the High Court for fresh consideration. A bench of the top court directed the Delhi High Court to hear and decide Sengar’s suspension of sentence application afresh before the summer vacations.
The Supreme Court also asked the High Court to dispose of the criminal appeal at the earliest possible opportunity.
During the hearing, the apex court observed that the High Court’s earlier order was “partially correct and partially incorrect” and said several issues required closer examination.
The Supreme Court had earlier stayed the operation of the Delhi High Court order that had granted suspension of sentence to Sengar.
Sengar is serving a life sentence after being convicted in the 2017 Unnao rape case involving a minor girl, a case that had sparked nationwide outrage and intense political scrutiny.
The minor had accused Sengar of raping her at his residence in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao after allegedly promising to help her secure a job. The case triggered massive political outrage after the survivor and her family repeatedly alleged police inaction and intimidation by Sengar’s associates. Public attention intensified in 2018 after the survivor attempted self-immolation outside the residence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow, claiming that no action had been taken against the powerful legislator.
The controversy deepened further after the survivor’s father died in judicial custody under suspicious circumstances shortly after his arrest in a case allegedly linked to Sengar’s aides.
In 2019, the Supreme Court transferred all cases related to the matter from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi, citing concerns over fairness and witness safety. The same year, the survivor and her lawyer were critically injured in a suspicious road accident in Rae Bareli, while two of her relatives were killed. The incident led to allegations of a conspiracy to eliminate the survivor and intensified scrutiny of the case nationwide.
In December 2019, a Delhi court convicted Sengar for rape under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine and directed compensation for the survivor. Over the years, the case became one of the most politically sensitive criminal cases in the country, sparking debates over political influence, protection of sexual assault survivors and the criminal justice system.
VisitTimes Nowfor theLatest news,India News,Assembly Elections 2026and breaking stories from around theWorld.
Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now
