Delhi High Court grants bail to Kuldeep Singh Sengar in Unnao rape case

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted bail to former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case [Kuldeep Singh Sengar v Central Bureau of Investigation and Anr].

A Bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidynathan Shankar suspended Sengar's sentence during the pendency of his appeal against his conviction.

The High Court today ordered Sengar not to come within 5 kilometer radius of the victim and remain in Delhi during the duration of his bail. He has been asked to report to the police every Monday.

"Violation of any condition would lead to cancellation of bail," the Court ordered.

The pending appeal challenges trial court decision convicting him for the rape of a 17-year-old girl. The trial court had sentenced him for life and imposed a fine of ₹25 lakh.

The Unnao rape survivor, a minor, was allegedly kidnapped and raped by Sengar between June 11-20, 2017. She was then sold for ₹60,000, after which she was recovered at the Maakhi police station.

The survivor was thereafter continuously threatened and warned by the police officials against speaking out, as instructed by Sengar.

An FIR finally came to be recorded against Sengar for rape, kidnapping and criminal intimidation along with the provision of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act). He was arrested after an order of the Allahabad High Court.

In August 2019, the Supreme Court transferred the trial in four cases relating to the Unnao rape case to Delhi and ordered that the same be held on a day-to-day basis and completed within 45 days.

In December 2019, Sengar was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the rape case by the trial court. The trial court also directed that adequate steps shall be taken by the CBI to ensure that the life and liberty of the survivor and her family is protected by providing a safe house and change of identity, if so desired by the family.

While imposing the maximum sentence on Sengar, the trial court remarked that there were no mitigating circumstances. It was added that being a public servant in a democratic set up, Sengar enjoyed the faith of people which was betrayed and a single act of depravity was enough to do so.

The appeal against the same is pending.

Meanwhile, the case took a 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.

A separate case was registered against Sengar for the same.

In December 2021, a Delhi Court discharged Sengar from this case after finding no prima facie evidence that he orchestrated the accident.

Senior Advocates N Hariharan and Manish Vashisht with advocates SPM Tripathi, Amit Sinha, Deepak Sharma, Rahul Poonia, Ambuj Singh, Ashish Tiwari, Aishwarya Senger, Gaurav Kumar, Saurabh Dwivedi, Punya Rekha, Angara, Vasundhara N, Aman Akhtar, Sana Singh, Vasundhara Raj Tyagi, Arjan Singh Mandla, Gauri Ramachandran, Manish Vashisht, Vedansh Vashisht and Swapan Singhal appeared for Kuldeep Sengar.

Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Anubha Bhardwaj along with advcoates Vijay Mishra and Ananya Shamshery represented the CBI.

Advocates Mehmood Pracha, Sanawar, Jatin Bhatt, Kshtij Singh and Kumail Abbas appeared for the complainant.

Advocate Urvi Mohan represented the Delhi Commission for Women.