Death of Unnao rape victim's father: Delhi HC seeks CBI reply on Kuldeep Sengar's plea
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the CBI to respond to expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar's plea seeking suspension on medical grounds of the 10-year jail term awarded to him for the custodial death of the Unnao rape victim's father.
The high court also asked jail authorities to file a report on Sengar's medical condition and listed the plea for further hearing on January 13 next year.
"Issue notice limited only to medical grounds," Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri said.
The court was informed by the CBI's counsel that the high court had in June this year refused to suspend Sengar's sentence during the pendency of his appeal against conviction.
The counsel for Sengar submitted that he was seeking suspension of sentence on medical grounds as his health was deteriorating and it was a medical emergency.
He added that Sengar's appeal challenging the trial court's conviction and sentencing order has not been heard for a long time and he has been in jail for the last eight years, while the maximum punishment awarded to him was 10 years in the case.
Sengar has already been convicted of raping the minor daughter of the deceased man and sentenced to imprisonment for the remainder of his life in that case.
Sengar's appeal challenging the trial court's verdict in the main Unnao rape case is already pending in the high court.
He has sought quashing of the December 16, 2019, judgment of the trial court, which convicted him in the rape case. Sengar has also sought to set aside the December 20, 2019, order sentencing him to imprisonment for the remainder of his life.
The girl was kidnapped and raped by Sengar in 2017 when she was a minor.
On March 13, 2020, Sengar was sentenced by the trial court to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment, besides a fine of Rs 10 lakh, in the case of the death of the rape victim's father in custody. The trial court had said "no leniency" can be shown for killing a family's "sole bread earner".
It had also awarded a 10-year jail term to Sengar's brother Atul Singh Sengar and five other people for their role in the custodial killing of the father of the rape victim.
The girl's father was arrested at the behest of Sengar under the Arms Act and died in custody on April 9, 2018, owing to police brutality.
The trial court, which did not hold the accused guilty of murder under the IPC, awarded the maximum sentence for the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder to the convicts under section 304 of the IPC after holding that there was no intention to kill.
The case was transferred to Delhi from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh on the directions of the Supreme Court on August 1, 2019.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
