New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the bail petition of former BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar in connection with the custodial death of the father of the Unao rape survivor.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant directed the Delhi High Court to decide Sengar’s appeal within three months, stressing that the matter should be taken up on priority. The top court declined to interfere with the High Court’s earlier order refusing to suspend Sengar’s 10-year sentence in the case.
The bench, which also comprised Justices Joymalya Bagchi and N.V. Anjaria, said that if the victim’s family has filed any appeal, the High Court should hear it along with Sengar’s plea. During the hearing, the Chief Justice expressed displeasure over statements being made in the media by the victim’s counsel, observing that parallel “media trials” outside the courtroom would not be tolerated.
Sengar was sentenced on March 13, 2020, by a trial court to 10 years’ imprisonment and fined ₹10 lakh for the custodial death of the survivor’s father. The victim’s father had been arrested under the Arms Act on Sengar’s alleged instructions and later died in police custody on April 9, 2018, due to custodial torture.
Sengar is already serving a life sentence after being convicted in 2019 for the abduction and rape of a minor in the Unnao case. The Delhi High Court is scheduled to hear the matter again on February 11.
