SC to Hear CBI Plea Against Suspension of Kuldeep Sengar's Life Term

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Monday a plea by the CBI challenging the Delhi High Court order suspending the life sentence of expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the Unnao rape case. According to the cause list, a three-judge vacation bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices JK Maheshwari and Augustine George Masih is likely to hear the matter.

The top court would also hear a separate petition filed by advocates Anjale Patel and Pooja Shilpkar, which has challenged the high court order and has sought a stay on it.

The CBI, in its appeal before the apex court, referred to its verdict in the L K Advani case in which it held that anyone who holds public office, like MPs or MLAs, would be deemed a public servant. The agency has contended that the high court erred by declaring that Sengar, an MLA when the offence was committed, was not a public servant to be prosecuted under POCSO and granted him bail.

"The high court failed to consider that a sitting MLA, by virtue of holding a constitutional office, is vested with public trust and authority over the electorate and that such a position carries heightened responsibility arising from duties owed to the state and society."

"It has erred in law by failing to adopt a purposive interpretation that advances the object and intent of the POCSO Act," the CBI said.

On December 23, the high court suspended the jail term of Sengar, who is serving life imprisonment in the Unnao rape case, saying he has already served seven years and five months in prison.

Sengar's sentence has been suspended by the high court till the pendency of his appeal challenging his conviction and sentence in the rape case. He has challenged a December 2019 trial court verdict in the case. He will, however, remain in jail since he is also serving 10 years' imprisonment in the custodial death case of the victim's father and has not been granted bail in that case.

Imposing several conditions, the high court directed Sengar, who kidnapped and raped the survivor when she was a minor, to furnish a personal bond of Rs 15 lakh with three sureties of the like amount.

It also directed him not to come within a 5-km radius of the survivor's residence in Delhi and not to threaten her or her mother. Violation of any of the conditions would lead to the cancellation of bail, the HC said.

The rape case and other connected cases were transferred to Delhi from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh on the directions of the Supreme Court on August 1, 2019.

Sengar's appeal against his conviction in the case of the custodial death of the survivor's father is also pending, where he has sought suspension of sentence on the ground that he has already spent a substantial time in jail.