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Supreme Court intervenes in controversial bail order
India's top court temporarily blocked the release of former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was convicted of raping a teenager in 2019. The decision halts a Delhi High Court ruling that had suspended his life sentence and granted him conditional bail last week.
Background of the case
Sengar, once a powerful BJP politician in Uttar Pradesh, was found guilty under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for assaulting a 17-year-old girl in Unnao district in 2017. The survivor alleged she was kidnapped and raped over several days after approaching Sengar for a job.
The case gained national attention in 2018 when the survivor attempted self-immolation outside the Uttar Pradesh chief minister's residence, accusing police of inaction. The BJP later expelled Sengar.
Legal twists and family tragedies
Months before his 2019 conviction, the survivor survived a car crash that killed two of her aunts and critically injured her lawyer. The incident was widely seen as suspicious.
In a separate case, Sengar was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2020 for culpable homicide after the survivor's father died in police custody. The family accused Sengar's associates of assaulting him in 2018, though police also charged the father with illegal firearms possession.
High Court ruling sparks outrage
The Delhi High Court's decision to suspend Sengar's life sentence hinged on whether his crime qualified as "aggravated" under the POCSO Act. The law imposes harsher penalties if the assault is committed by someone in a "position of trust or authority," such as a public servant.
Sengar's lawyers argued that legislators were not explicitly listed as public servants under the act. The High Court agreed, ruling that his crime carried a minimum seven-year sentence-which he had already served-justifying his release on bail.
"I fear for my life if he is freed,"
the survivor, speaking to protesters at Delhi's India Gate
Supreme Court's unusual move
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) appealed the High Court's decision, contending that Sengar, as an elected lawmaker, held a "constitutional position of trust and authority."
On Monday, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant stayed the bail order, citing "peculiar facts and circumstances." The court noted that Sengar remains in custody for the culpable homicide case and rarely intervenes in bail matters without hearing the convict.
What's next
The Supreme Court will hear the case in full, with no date set yet for further proceedings. The survivor and her family continue to demand justice, while activists warn of broader implications for sexual assault cases involving powerful figures.
