Unnao rape case: Supreme Court pauses Kuldeep Sengar's bail, says he will not be released

The Supreme Court stepped in late on Tuesday to halt the release of Kuldeep Singh Sengar, pausing the bail granted to him in the 2017 Unnao rape case and making it clear that he will remain behind bars as the legal battle continues. The top court has scheduled the next hearing for January.

In his order to pause Kuldeep Sengar's bail in the 2017 Unnao rape case, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said, "We have heard Solicitor General Mehta for the CBI and senior counsel for the convict. We find that several substantial questions of law arise. A counter-affidavit shall be filed within four weeks. While we are mindful that the court ordinarily does not stay release orders once a convict or undertrial has been freed, in view of the peculiar facts, where the convict has already been convicted in a separate case, we stay the operation of the Delhi High Court order dated December 23. Accordingly, the respondent, Kuldeep Singh Sengar, shall not be released pursuant to that order.”

The Supreme Court is hearing a plea by the CBI challenging the Delhi High Court order suspending the life sentence of expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the Unnao rape case.

On December 23, the high court suspended the jail term of Sengar, who is serving life imprisonment for kidnapping and raping the survivor when she was a minor, saying he has already served seven years and five months in prison.

He will, however, remain in jail since he is also serving 10 years' imprisonment in the custodial death case of the survivor's father and has not been granted bail in that case.