The Supreme Court has taken up a plea filed by former Uttar Pradesh legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar seeking suspension of the sentence awarded to him in the case relating to the custodial death of the father of the Unnao rape survivor.
Sengar is serving a 10-year prison sentence after being convicted for his role in the victim’s father’s death while in police custody. He approached the apex court after the Delhi High Court declined to grant him relief and refused to stay the sentence during the pendency of his appeal.
While the Supreme Court did not grant suspension of the sentence at this stage, it directed the Delhi High Court to hear Sengar’s appeal on an expedited basis. The top court observed that the matter should be taken up out of turn and decided within a fixed time frame.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court had rejected Sengar’s plea for interim relief, noting that no exceptional circumstances existed to justify suspension of the sentence. The High Court also pointed out that delays in the appeal proceedings could not be solely attributed to the court, as several applications had been filed on behalf of the appellant.
Sengar was convicted by a trial court for orchestrating the arrest of the rape survivor’s father, who later died in custody. Apart from this conviction, Sengar is also serving a life sentence in the separate case relating to the rape of the minor survivor in 2017.
Both appeals arising from the convictions are currently pending before the Delhi High Court.
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