New Delhi, Dec 28 (UNI) The Supreme Court will hear on Monday (December 29) a petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging the Delhi High Court’s order that granted bail to former Uttar Pradesh MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the Unnao rape case.
A vacation bench, comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Augustine George Masih, will hear the matter.
The CBI has approached the Supreme Court through a Special Leave Petition against the High Court’s decision to suspend Sengar’s life sentence and release him on bail while his appeal against conviction is pending.
Earlier this week, the Delhi High Court granted bail after holding that the stricter provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Section 376(2) of the Indian Penal Code were not applicable in Sengar’s case.
The High Court reasoned that Sengar could not be treated as a “public servant” under these provisions and, on that basis, suspended his sentence.
The CBI has strongly objected to this reasoning. It has argued that the High Court’s order weakens the protection provided to children under the POCSO Act and is not legally sustainable, especially considering the seriousness of the crime and established principles governing suspension of life sentences.
According to the CBI, treating an MLA as not being a “public servant” for the purpose of POCSO defeats the very objective of the law.
The agency said the Act is meant to give stronger protection to children and to treat abuse of authority as an aggravating factor. A narrow and technical interpretation, it argued, undermines this purpose.
The investigating agency also submitted that POCSO is a welfare legislation and must be interpreted in a way that strengthens, not limits, safeguards for child victims.
It added that long time spent in jail cannot, by itself, be a valid reason to suspend a life sentence in cases involving heinous crimes such as the rape of a minor.
The CBI pointed out that the Supreme Court has repeatedly held that suspension of sentence in life imprisonment cases is an exception and can be granted only in rare and compelling circumstances. Factors such as the gravity of the offence, the conduct of the accused, and risks to the victim and witnesses must be carefully considered.
Raising concerns about the survivor’s safety, the CBI said Sengar’s release poses a real risk due to his past conduct and influence. It warned that granting bail to a powerful convict in such cases could damage public confidence in the criminal justice system and send a wrong message in cases of sexual violence against children.
Kuldeep Singh Sengar was convicted in 2019 by a special CBI court for raping a minor girl in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The case had drawn nationwide attention, with the survivor and her family alleging repeated harassment and intimidation by Sengar and his associates.
Several related cases, including attacks on the survivor’s family members, were also investigated by the CBI at the direction of the Supreme Court.
Sengar is also serving a separate 10-year sentence awarded in 2020 in a case related to the culpable homicide of the survivor’s father.
