CBI challenges suspension of Unnao rape convict's life term in Supreme Court

New Delhi, Dec 26 (PTI) The CBI on Friday challenged in the Supreme Court the Delhi High Court order suspending the life sentence and bail to expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the Unnao rape case, officials said.

The central probe agency filed a Special Leave Petition in the apex court against the order of the high court, they said.

The decision to file the SLP was taken after studying the orders of a division bench of the Delhi High Court in the Unnao rape case of 2017.

It was decided to file an SLP before the Supreme Court at the earliest against the orders of the high court, which granted bail to Sengar after suspending his life sentence, a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.

Sengar, however, will remain in jail, as he is also serving a 10-year term for the custodial death of the rape survivor's father.

The former MLA had filed an appeal against his life sentence, which was vehemently opposed by the CBI and the family of the victim before the high court.

"The CBI filed timely replies and written arguments in this matter. The family of the victim has also opposed the petition, citing safety and threats. The CBI will immediately challenge this order," the statement had said.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday suspended the jail term of Sengar, who was serving life imprisonment in the 2017 Unnao rape case, saying he had already served seven years and five months in prison.

Sengar's sentence was suspended till the pendency of his appeal challenging his conviction and sentence in the rape case.

He has challenged a December 2019 trial court verdict in the case.

Imposing several conditions for bail, the high court bench comprising Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar directed Sengar to furnish a personal bond of Rs 15 lakh with three sureties of the like amount.

It also directed Sengar not to come within a 5-km radius of the victim's residence in Delhi, and not to issue threats to her or her mother.

Sengar was convicted of kidnapping and raping the girl in 2017, when she was a minor.

The rape case and other connected cases were transferred to Delhi from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh on the directions of the Supreme Court on August 1, 2019. PTI ABS VN VN