On December 29, a three-judge vacation bench of the Supreme Court, comprising CJI Surya Kant, Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice A.G. Masih, issued notice and stayed the Delhi High Court’s judgment suspending the life sentence of a former four-time MLA, Kuldeep Singh Sengar and granting him bail pending appeal in the 2017 infamous Unnao rape case. The intervention came just six days after the High Court, on December 23, suspended Sengar’s life sentence, which triggered intense public debate.
The case stems from allegations that in June 2017, the survivor, then a minor, was raped by the convict, the then-sitting MLA, at his residence. Amid allegations of police inaction and intimidation, the probe was transferred to the CBI in April 2018, and the trial shifted to Delhi pursuant to the SC’s directions. On December 16, 2019, the trial court in Delhi convicted Sengar, and by a separate order on December 20, 2019, sentenced him to imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life.
