Delhi High Court orders bail for former UP MLA Kuldeep Sengar, Imposes STRICT CONDITIONS
File Image | IANS
New Delhi | The Delhi High Court has granted bail to former Uttar Pradesh MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case. The HC has also suspended his life sentence. However, Sengar will not be released from prison as he is also serving a sentence in the case related to the murder of the victim’s father.
A division bench comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad and Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar suspended Sengar’s sentence while his appeal against the conviction and life imprisonment awarded by the trial court remains pending.
Sengar has challenged the trial court verdict which held him guilty of raping a 17-year-old girl. In December 2019, the trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹25 lakh.
While granting bail, the High Court imposed several strict conditions. Sengar has been directed to furnish a bail bond of ₹15 lakh. The court clarified that the bail will remain in force until the appeal against his conviction is finally decided.
SPONSORED CONTENT
The court further ordered that Sengar shall not enter within a five-kilometre radius of the victim’s residence and must remain in Delhi during the bail period. He has been directed to report to the police every Monday. The former MLA has also been instructed to surrender his passport before the trial court and has been restrained from threatening or contacting the victim or her family in any manner. The court warned that any violation of the bail conditions would lead to immediate cancellation of bail.
The case dates back to 2017, when a minor girl from Unnao accused Sengar of abduction and rape. Following directions from the Allahabad High Court, Sengar was arrested. In August 2019, the Supreme Court transferred four cases related to the Unnao incident to Delhi and ordered day-to-day hearings, directing that the trial be completed within 45 days.
In December 2019, the trial court convicted Sengar in the rape case and sentenced him to life imprisonment, marking one of the most high-profile criminal convictions involving a sitting legislator in recent years.
SPONSORED CONTENT
