 "Unnao rape case: BJP's Kuldeep Singh requests extension of his interim bail")
Former BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar has sought five-month extension of his interim bail on medical grounds in the 2017 Unnao rape case, the PTI report said.
The Delhi High Court, which had earlier granted him bail till December 20, heard the matter on Thursday. A bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma has now rescheduled the hearing for December 20 and has asked All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) to submit a medical report to Sengar’s advocates.
The court noted that AIIMS had raised concerns regarding the influx of visitors during Sengar’s medical evaluation, stating it disrupted medical care and daily routines. “AIIMS has never sent such a communication before,” the court observed. Sengar’s lawyer, however, maintained that only his family members had visited him during this period.
During the previous hearing on December 5, the court had provisionally suspended Sengar’s sentence, allowing him to undergo a medical checkup at AIIMS for various claimed health issues, including cataract.
Cases against Kuldeep Singh Sengar
Sengar, already serving a life term in the rape case, is undergoing a 10-year sentence for the custodial death of the rape survivor’s father. Another bench had granted him interim bail in the case until December 20. His appeal against the December 2019 trial court judgment convicting him in the rape case is still pending before the Delhi High Court, where he has moved to have the judgment set aside.
Unnao rape case of 2017
In 2017, Sengar was accused of abduction and rape of a 17-year-old girl in Unnao. The father of the victim was reportedly arrested under the Arms Act on orders from Sengar and died in custody on April 9, 2018. After the directive by the Supreme Court on August 1, 2019, the rape case along with other proceedings was transferred from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi.
Sengar, among others, including his brother Atul Singh Sengar, was sentenced in March 2020 to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years on the custodial death of the survivor’s father. He was also fined Rs 10 lakh.