NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the request of the Unnao rape survivor to be made a party in the appeal filed by the CBI challenging the suspension of life imprisonment of former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, saying that the victim has a right to be heard in the proceedings.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi permitted the survivor to be made a party to the case, observing that victims are entitled to participate in proceedings affecting their interests, in line with the apex court’s earlier judgment in the Lakhimpur Kheri case.
“We are of the view that the victim has the right to be heard,” the CJI said.
The bench also granted two weeks’ time to the survivor to file her affidavit against the suspension of the life sentence of the convict.
The Supreme Court had in December last year, stayed the Delhi High Court order suspending the jail sentence and granting bail to expelled BJP leader Sengar in the Unnao rape case, after hearing the appeal filed by the CBI.
While issuing notice to Sengar on the plea filed by the CBI challenging the Delhi High Court verdict, which suspended Sengar's sentence and released him on bail during the pendency of his appeal against conviction, the apex court had flagged certain substantial questions of law arising from the High Court’s suspension order.
The top court had also questioned whether the High Court examined the conviction under Section 376(2)(i) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at all in the case.
“The matter requires consideration. We are inclined to stay the order. The general principle is that once someone has been released, the person will be heard. But here, he continues to be in custody (in a separate case),” the CJI had earlier said.
The Delhi High Court had on December 23 suspended the jail term of Sengar, who is serving a life imprisonment sentence in the 2017 Unnao rape case. The High Court granted him relief subject to strict conditions, including movement restrictions and regular police reporting.
A bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar had directed Sengar to furnish a personal bond of Rs 15 lakh with three Delhi-based sureties of the same amount. He was also directed to stay in Delhi, report weekly to the police, and deposit his passport.
In the same case, two lawyers have also approached the Supreme Court by filing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenging the suspension of the jail sentence and the grant of bail by the Delhi High Court to Sengar.
The two lawyers, Anjale Patel and Pooja Shilpkar, through Advocate-on-Record Sanjeev Malhotra moved the apex court after being aggrieved by the Delhi High Court’s December 23 order suspending the jail term of expelled BJP leader Sengar, who is serving a life sentence in the 2017 Unnao rape case.
