Unnao rape case: SC to hear on Monday CBI plea challenging suspension of ex-BJP MLA Sengar's life sentence
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday (December 29) the appeal filed by the CBI challenging the Delhi High Courts order suspending the life sentence of expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar and granting him bail in the Unnao rape case. A three-judge vacation bench of the apex court, led by CJI Surya Kant and including Justices J K Maheshwari and Augustine George Masih, is expected to hear the CBI's appeal. Before filing the appeal, the CBI studied the order of the division bench of the Delhi HC in the case and decided to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court at the earliest against the orders of the HC. The Delhi HC had on December 23 suspended the jail term of Sengar and granted him bail. A bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar directed Sengar to furnish a personal bond of Rs 15 lakh with three Delhi-based sureties of the same amount and to stay in Delhi, report weekly to the police and deposit his passport. Two lawyers subsequently also knocked the doors of the Supreme Court by filing a SLP challenging the suspension of the jail sentence and granting of bail by the Delhi High Court to Sengar. Unnao rape case: CBI approaches SC against Delhi HC order suspending sentence of former BJP MLA The two lawyers Anjale Patel and Pooja Shilpkar through Advocate-on-Record Sanjeev Malhotra in their plea argued that the HC was unjustified in entertaining and allowing the plea for suspension of sentence and grant of bail in favour of Sengar, particularly when the trial court, after appreciating the entire evidence on record, had not only awarded life imprisonment but had also directed that the accused shall undergo incarceration for the remainder of his natural life. They appealed to the SC that it should thereby interfere in the Delhi HC order, uphold the sanctity of the criminal justice system and preserve public confidence in the administration of justice. The trial court not only passed a conviction order for life imprisonment but also made an observation that the accused/ respondent No. 2 (Sengar) must be served the judicial custody in his rest of natural life which showed that he may not be released from the jail of his natural life without any proper reason assigned by the any judicial forum, therefore, interference of the SC is required for complete justice, the lawyers stated in their SLP filed in the apex court. Justice Delayed: The Unnao rape survivor's long-running legal battle
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