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Plea in Supreme Court challenges HC order granting bail to Unnao rape accused Kuldeep Sengar
The Delhi HC had suspended the life sentence of former BJP MLA Sengar, granting him bail in the 2017 Unnao rape case.
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court's order granting bail to accused Kuldeep Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case.
The Delhi HC had suspended the life sentence of former BJP MLA Sengar, granting him bail in the case.
The plea was filed by two women lawyers – Anjale Patel and Pooja Shilpkar – and seeks the setting aside of the HC order that gave relief to the accused, ANI news agency reported.
The two lawyers have, in their petition, argued that the high court, in its ruling, had ignored material prosecution evidence which demonstrated the extreme brutality of the crimes, the accused's criminal tendencies, and his misuse of financial influence and muscle power.
The plea further submits that the accused Sengar had also orchestrated the murder of the survivor's father while being in judicial custody, intending to silence the family and derail the course of justice, according to ANI.
The top court had, noting the accused's influence and capacity for intimidation, transferred the trial from Unnao in Uttar Pradesh to Tis Hazari Court in Delhi, the plea pointed out. It stated that this had been done to ensure a fair trial and for the protection of the survivor and the witnesses, ANI reported. The plea said that this judicial determination had been disregarded by the HC while granting bail to the accused, and defeated the purpose of transferring the case.
“The liberty of the accused cannot be elevated over the rights of the victim and society, particularly in a case where the accused has previously abused his liberty, terrorised witnesses and undermined the rule of law,” ANI cited the plea as saying. The plea also said that the HC had, in this case, acted contrary to what is the settled law that courts must exercise caution in granting bail in cases involving rape and murder.
After the HC ordered the release of Sengar earlier this week, the CBI had also decided to file an appeal against the ruling. After Sengar was granted bail, the Unnao rape case survivor staged a protest at the India Gate, but was removed by police personnel from the site.
The survivor told HT that she was deeply distressed and “extremely upset” by the ruling, adding that she felt “extremely unsafe”.
“He is a powerful man. He would get his men to do his dirty work for him. When my car met with an accident in which two of my relatives and my lawyer died in 2019, Sengar didn’t do it himself. His henchmen did. Now that he is out, we are all unsafe,” the survivor said.
Sengar, however, will remain in jail as he is also serving a 10-year term in connection with the custodial death of the rape survivor's father.
