Supreme Court sets aside Delhi High Court order that had suspended the trial‑court’s life‑imprisonment verdict

New Delhi, May 15 (HS): The Supreme Court has set aside the Delhi High Court’s order that had suspended the life‑sentence awarded to former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar by the trial court in the Unnao rape case. A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant passed this order.

The decision comes on a challenge filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the Delhi High Court’s judgment. The Delhi High Court, on 23 December 2025, had suspended Sengar’s sentence and granted him bail.

A bench headed by Justice Subramonium Prasad had directed that Sengar’s sentence remain suspended while his appeal against the trial‑court verdict remained pending.

On 16 December 2019, the Tis Hazari Court had sentenced Kuldeep Singh Sengar to ten years’ rigorous imprisonment in the case of the custodial death of the rape survivor’s father. The same court also imposed a fine of ₹10 lakh on him. The Tis Hazari Court sentenced all seven accused, including Sengar, to ten years’ imprisonment and a fine of ₹10 lakh each.

The rape survivor’s father had died in judicial custody on 9 April 2018. After the survivor accused Kuldeep Singh Sengar of rape on 4 June 2017, Sengar’s brother, Atul Singh, and his associates allegedly beat the complainant’s father severely and then handed him over to the police. The father was shifted to jail, and within hours he died at the district hospital.

In the rape case itself, on 20 December 2019, the Tis Hazari Court held Sengar guilty and awarded him life imprisonment.

The Court further imposed a fine of ₹25 lakh, directing that ₹10 lakh of this amount be paid to the survivor. Against this life‑sentence verdict as well, Kuldeep Singh Sengar had moved the Delhi High Court with a regular appeal.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar