Unnao rape case: Delhi High Court grants bail to 2 UP Police officials convicted for custodial death of victim's father

The Delhi High Court on Friday granted bail to Ashok Singh Bhadauria and Kamta Prasad, the two Uttar Pradesh Police officials who were convicted for the custodial death of the Unnao rape victim’s father..Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, Bhadauria, Prasad and others were convicted in the case by the trial court in March 2020 for several offences including culpable homicide not amounting to murder. They were ordered to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years..Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma granted bail to Bhadauria and Prasad, noting that both the convicts have undergone sentences of more than four years.It is a settled proposition that for cases other than life sentence cases, the broad parameter of 50% of the actual sentence undergone can be the basis for the grant of bail, the Court said.“…it is a matter of record that an appeal in the case was admitted on 31.07.2020 however, the Court has not been able to hear it. It is also a matter of the record that the appellants did not misuse the liberty of interim bail granted to them from time to time,” the judgment stated.It ordered them to be released on bail after furnishing a bond of ₹50,000..The minor Unnao rape survivor was kidnapped and raped by Sengar between June 11 and June 20, 2017. She was then sold for ₹60,000, after which she was recovered at the Makhi police station.The survivor was thereafter continuously threatened and warned by the police officials against speaking out, as instructed by Sengar.On April 9, 2018, the rape victim's father died in custody. It was alleged that he was assaulted following a quarrel with some of the accused in the case. It was alleged that he was taken to the Makhi police station and framed for possessing illegal firearm. Subsequently, he was sent to custodial remand, during which he died. A total of seven people were held guilty in the case. .The Unnao rape case gathered national attention 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.Subsequently, the Supreme Court transferred the trial in all four cases to Delhi from Lucknow and ordered that the same be held on a day-to-day basis and completed within 45 days.Senger and others have been convicted in the case..Senior Advocate Mohit Mathur with Advocates Rajiv Mohan, Nishant Madan, Swapnil Tripathi and Shivender Gupta appeared for Ashok Singh Bhadauria.Advocates Akhand Pratap Singh, Abhinandan Gautam and Samridhi D represented Kamta Prasad.CBI was represented by Special Public Prosecutor Nikhil Goel as well as Advocates Kartik Kaushal, Adithya Koshy Roy and Siddhi Gupta.Advocates Mehmood Pracha, Sanawar and Jatin Bhatt appeared for the complainant..[Read Judgment]