New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday (January 22) granted interim bail to expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar on medical grounds in the 2017 Unnao rape case.
A bench comprising Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar said that Sengar, would be released from the jail on January 23 to undergo a cataract surgery at AIIMS on the following day.
High Court directed Sengar to surrender latest by January 27
The High Court directed Sengar, who is serving life imprisonment for the remainder of his biological life in the main Unnao rape case for allegedly kidnapping and raping a minor in 2017, to surrender not later than the noon of January 27 once he was discharged from the hospital.
The bench also made it clear that in the event of the said surgery not taking place, he should surrender the same evening.
“We suspend the sentence of the appellant (Sengar).. On being discharged, he shall surrender back to jail superintendent, latest by January 27, 12 noon,” the court said, news agency PTI reported.
Sengar on Wednesday sought interim bail for 30 days
Sengar’s counsel on Wednesday sought interim bail for 30 days, submitting that he was advised to undergo a cataract surgery at AIIMS and he had to be admitted for this on January 24. His claim was verified by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Survivor’s lawyer opposed Sengar’s plea seeking interim bail
The survivor’s counsel, however, opposed Sengar’s plea seeking extension of interim bail, submitting that he could not be given interim bail endlessly and that the survivor and her family were facing threats from him.
The bench, however, granted Sengar relief, saying at present there was no allegation of violation of any of the terms and conditions imposed by the court on him when he was earlier given interim bail.
Sengar’s plea for suspension of sentence in connected case is pending before another bench
Sengar is also serving a 10-year sentence awarded to him in the connected case of the death of the father of the Unnao rape victim in custody and his plea seeking suspension of his sentence in the connected case is pending before another bench.
High Court on January 20 refused to extend Sengar’s plea for interim bail
The High Court earlier granted Sengar a two-week interim bail on account of his health in December last year and it was subsequently extended by another month. The High Court, however, refused to extend the interim bail on January 20 and asked him to surrender, noting that the copy of his plea seeking extension of his interim bail was not supplied to the survivor.
The Supreme Court transferred the Unnao main rape case and related cases from the trial court in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi on August 1, 2019.
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