The Delhi High Court on Monday rejected a petition filed by the Unnao rape victim seeking enhancement of the sentence awarded to former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the case related to the custodial death of her father.
A Bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja observed that the victim failed to establish any “sufficient cause” for condonation of delay of 1,945 days under the Limitation Act.
“The delay being gross, unexplained, and attributable to negligence, the application deserves to be dismissed,” the Court observed.
The rejection of her application seeking condonation of delay implies that the appeal against Sengar's quantum of sentence also stands dismissed for being barred by limitation.
The Tis Hazari sessions court judgment convicting and sentencing Sengar to life imprisonment was passed in March 2020, whereas this appeal was filed before the Delhi High Court in September 2025.
The Court observed that the limitation period for moving in appeal against the judgment expired in May 2022. It noted that the appeal was filed after the delay of 1,199 days, even after the expiry of the limitation period.
The Court found that there was deliberate inaction and negligence on her part. It stated that she was aware of the judgment passed in 2020 and was actively participating in connected proceedings arising out of the incident.
“The conduct of the appellant disentitles her from seeking equitable relief of condonation of delay.”
The Court stated that allowing her belated plea would open the floodgates for belated claims and would cause prejudice to the rights of Sengar.
"Entertaining a belated appeal seeking enhancement of conviction and sentence after an unexplained delay of several years would seriously prejudice the rights of the accused, who would be exposed to the uncertainty of prolonged litigation and the possibility of aggravated penal consequences long after the conclusion of trial."
The survivor had asked for condonation of delay on grounds of financial constraints to pursue litigation, issues relating to accommodation provided by the Delhi Commission for Women, physical injuries, allegations of threats and harassment. However, the Court found,
“These grounds are vague in nature, unsupported by any documentary material, and do not disclose the period during which such circumstances prevailed. Mere assertions, without substantiation, cannot constitute “sufficient cause”."
The ground of financial constraint was particularly rejected on the observation that the rape survivor had already received ₹35 lakh in compensation.
The Unnao rape survivor, then a minor, was allegedly kidnapped and raped by Sengar between June 11 and June 20, 2017. She was then sold for ₹60,000. The survivor was thereafter continuously threatened and warned by the police officials against speaking out, as instructed by Sengar.
The Unnao rape survivor’s father was arrested at Sengar's behest and he died in custody on April 9, 2018.
The case took another controversial turn after a lorry without a number plate rammed into the car in which the victim was travelling. The victim and her lawyer were critically injured while two of her aunts passed away.
In August 2019, the Supreme Court transferred the trial in four cases to Delhi and ordered that the same be held on a day-to-day basis and completed within 45 days.
Sengar was convicted in December 2019 for the rape of the minor victim as well as for the custodial death of the victim’s father. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in the rape case and sent to jail for 10 years in the custodial death case.
The High Court had in June 2024 rejected a plea by Sengar seeking suspension of sentence.
Recently, the Delhi High Court granted Sengar bail in the rape case. However, the order was stayed by the Supreme Court after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed an appeal.
Advocates Mehmood Pracha, Jatin Bhatt, Sanawar, Nujhat, Sikander, Kshitij Singh and Chiraj Verma represented the victim.
Advocates Naval Goel, Prasanna, Ajay Kumar and Vani Singhal appeared for Kuldeep Sengar.
Senior advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey with advocates SPM Tripathi, Gaurav Mani Tripathi, Satyam Sharma, Ramachandruni, Siddhartha, Samarth Kasana Pawar and Yash Saxena appeared for Jaideep Singh Sengar.
Advocates SPM Tripathi, Aishwarya Senger, Rahul Poonia and Gaurav Chaudhary appeared for Vineet Mishra.
Advocates Rajiv Mohan, Swapnil Krishna, Nishant Madan, Chandveer Shyoran, Sachit Sharma, Hemant Goyal and Abhishek Sharma appeared for Ashok Bhadauriya and Shahi Pratap Singh.
Advocates Hemant Shah, Saurabh Pal, Saurabh Rajput, Ojas Kaushik and Akshay Rana appeared for Birendra Singh.
Advocates Akhand Pratap Singh, Samridhi Dobhal, Krishna Mohan Chandel, Hritwik Maurya, Apporv Paliya, Utkarsh Singh and Lisa Pegwal appeared for Kamta Prasad Singh.
The CBI was represented by Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Anubha Bhardwaj and Advocates Anurag Modi, Ananya Shamshery, Riddhi Grover and Mayank Bawa.
[Read order]