Unnao rape case: SC stays HC order suspending Sengar's life sentence

People trying to take political advantage, says SC on allegations against HC judges

- NARESH BISWANI

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed a Delhi High Court order that had suspended the life sentence of expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case and ruled that he will not be released from custody for now.

The top court said the case raises serious legal questions that need careful examination and issued notice to Sengar, asking him to respond within four weeks to a petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

A three-judge vacation bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices J K Maheshwari and Augustine George Masih, passed the interim order while hearing the CBI’s challenge to the high court decision dated December 23. That order had suspended Sengar’s life sentence during the pendency of his appeal against conviction.

The Supreme Court said it was aware that, as a general rule, bail or suspension of sentence granted by a trial court or high court is not stayed without first hearing the accused. However, it added that the present case stood on a different footing. The bench noted that Sengar is also convicted.

In another case and continues to remain in jail in that matter. "In the peculiar circumstances of the case, we stay the operation of the impugned order dated December 23, 2025. Consequently, the respondent shall not be released from custody pursuant to the said order," the bench said. It added that several substantial questions of law arise from the high court ruling, and these require detailed consideration.

The Delhi High Court had suspended Sengar's life sentence in the rape case till the disposal of his appeal, observing that he had already spent seven years and five months in prison. Sengar was convicted by a Delhi trial court in December 2019 for raping a minor girl in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh.