On Friday, the Delhi High Court extended the interim bail of Kuldeep Sengar, a former BJP leader serving a 10-year sentence for the custodial death of the Unnao rape victim's father, by three days.
While hearing Sengar's petition to extend his interim bail on medical grounds, Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri postponed the matter to December 23, as he was informed that a High Court division bench was also hearing a similar plea in the main Unnao rape case.
The judge remarked, "Notify again on Monday, December 23. Until then, the interim bail is extended under the same previous conditions! Justice Ohri was informed that the case is also listed for a hearing before the division bench today, and an order is awaited."
During the day, the bench comprising Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Amit Sharma reviewed a medical report presented by AIIMS concerning Sengar's health in the main Unnao rape case. They suggested extending Sengar's interim bail by four weeks, given the report mentioning necessary surgical procedures undertaken after an evaluation by a team of doctors.
The senior counsel representing Sengar urged the court to extend the interim bail for five months to ensure necessary care and further treatment while stating, 'He should be in a place with no infections. He might lose his eyesight.'
According to PTI, the division bench had directed the temporary suspension of his sentence until December 20 on December 5. A single judge also suspended his sentence in the custodial death case until December 20, granting him 10 days of interim bail, considering the similar relief granted in the rape case by the division bench.
The division bench ordered Sengar's admission to AIIMS in New Delhi for a comprehensive review of his medical condition. On December 20, 2019, he was convicted of raping a minor victim and sentenced to imprisonment for the remainder of his life. Sengar's appeal challenging the trial court's verdict in the rape case is pending before the High Court.
He seeks the quashing of the trial court's December 16, 2019, conviction verdict in the rape case. Sengar also seeks to annul the sentencing order in the rape case. Notably, in 2017, the minor girl was abducted and raped.
On March 13, 2020, Sengar was sentenced by the trial court to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for the custodial death of the rape victim's father, along with a substantial fine of 1 million rupees. The trial court stated that no leniency could be shown for the murder of a family's sole breadwinner.
The girl's father was allegedly arrested at Sengar's behest under the Arms Act and died in custody on April 9, 2018, due to police brutality.
