Unnao rape case: SC sets aside Delhi HC order suspending life sentence of Kuldeep Sengar

The Supreme Court on Friday set aside an order issued by the Delhi High Court that had suspended the life sentence of expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case involving a minor, Bar and Bench reported.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked the High Court to either decide on the petition filed by the former Uttar Pradesh MLA against his conviction within three months or pass a fresh order on the application seeking the suspension of his sentence, according to Live Law.

The order came on a petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation against the High Court’s decision on December 23 to suspend Sengar’s jail sentence and allow his release during the pendency of his appeal against his conviction in the rape case.

Despite the High Court order, Sengar was to remain in jail as he is also serving a 10-year sentence in connection with the custodial death of the complainant’s father.

During the hearing on Friday, the Supreme Court disagreed with the High Court’s observation that the offence of “aggravated penetrative sexual assault” under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act was not made out against Sengar, Bar and Bench reported.

The High Court had observed that, on the face of it, the facts of...

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