HC suspends Sengar’s jail term in Unnao rape case

The Delhi high court ‘on Tuesday suspended the life sentence awarded to expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case till the pendency of his appeal challenging his conviction and sentence in the case, noting that he has already served over seven years in prison.

- Arnabjit Sur

Pronouncing the judgment, a division bench of justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar directed Sengar to furnish a personal bond of ₹15 lakh with three sureties of the like amount. Sengar has challenged the December 2019 verdict of a trial court that sentenced him to life imprisonment in the rape case.

The court noted that before the Protection of children from sexual offences (Pocso) Act was amended in 2019, the minimum punishment under Section 4 of the Act was seven years, which Sengar had already undergone. “The appellant was sentenced for the remainder of his life and as on November 30, 2025, he has spent about 7 years and 5 months under incarceration, which is more than the minimum punishment prescribed under Section 4 of the Pocso Act, as it existed at the time when the offence was committed,” the bench noted.