NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday suspended the life imprisonment awarded to expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case and granted him bail during the pendency of his appeal.
A bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar granted the relief to Sengar while hearing his appeal against the trial court order that sentenced him to life imprisonment. However, the court imposed strict conditions, directing him not to enter within a five-kilometre radius of the victim’s residence in Delhi and not to threaten the survivor or her mother.
The high court granted bail on a personal bond of `15 lakh with three sureties of the like amount. It also directed Sengar to report to the concerned police station every Monday and deposit his passport with the trial court. The court made it clear that any violation of the bail conditions would result in cancellation of bail.
While pronouncing the order, the bench directed Sengar to remain in the national capital during the pendency of his appeal. It further ordered that all three sureties must be residents of Delhi. The court said Sengar must remain available to complete the remaining part of the sentence if his conviction is upheld.
The trial court had convicted Sengar in 2019 in the Unnao rape case. According to the prosecution, Sengar had kidnapped the minor survivor and raped her in 2017. The cases related to the matter were transferred from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi on the directions of the SC on August 1, 2019. The bench is likely to hear Sengar’s appeal on January 16, 2026.