New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday (December 3) has issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and sought its response on a plea filed by expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar seeking suspension of his 10-year jail term, awarded to him for the custodial death of the father of the Unnao rape victim, on medical grounds.
Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri, while hearing Sengar’s plea for suspension of sentence on medical grounds, also sought a report from the jail authorities on the medical condition of Sengar.
What did Sengar submit?
The counsel representing Sengar submitted before the High Court that health of Sengar was deteriorating and it was a case of medical emergency and he was seeking suspension of sentence on medical grounds. The counsel further submitted that Sengar’s appeal challenging the order of the trial court convict and sentencing him has not been heard for a long time. While the maximum sentence awarded to him in the case was 10 years, he has been in jail for the last eight years, the counsel added.
What did the CBI say?
The CBI informed the court that the High Court earlier in June refused to suspend Sengar’s plea for suspension of sentence during the pendency of his appeal against the trial court order.
“Issue notice limited only to medical grounds,” the High Court said, news agency PTI reported.
The matter has been fixed for hearing on January 13 next year.
Sengar has been sentenced to imprisonment for remainder of his life for raping minor daughter of deceased
Sengar, who has been convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for the remainder of his life for raping the minor daughter of the deceased, has also appealed against the conviction in the main Unnao rape case and his appeal is pending before the High Court.
Deceased was arrested at behest of Sengar
The father of the girl, who was kidnapped and raped by Sengar in 2017 when she was a minor, was arrested at the behest of Sengar under the Arms Act and he died in custody on April 9, 2018 caused by police brutality. The trial court had convicted and sentenced Sengar, his brother Atul Singh Sengar and five others in the death of the father of the victim, saying that “no leniency” can be shown for killing “sole bread earner” of a family.
The case was transferred from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh to the national capital on the directions of the Supreme Court on August 1, 2019.
