Unnao rape case: SC stays Delhi HC order suspending Sengar's life sentence
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Delhi High Court's order suspending the life sentence of expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case.
A vacation bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, and Justices J K Maheshwari and Augustine George Masih also issued notice to Sengar seeking his response on the CBI's plea challenging the high court order.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, urged the bench to stay the high court order.
ALSO READ: Youth Congress protests suspension of Kuldeep Sengar's life term in Unnao rape case; slams BJP
The bench said it would examine the matter as it required consideration. It said Sengar shall not be released from custody following the high court's December 23 order.
Substantial questions of law arise for consideration in the matter, the bench said and posted the matter for hearing after four weeks.
The high court suspended the jail term of Sengar, who was serving life imprisonment in the Unnao rape case, saying he had already served seven years and five months in prison.
Sengar's sentence was suspended by the high court till the pendency of his appeal challenging his conviction and sentence in the rape case. He has challenged a December 2019 trial court verdict in the case.
The expelled BJP leader will, however, remain in jail since he is also serving 10 years' imprisonment in the custodial death case of the victim's father and has not been granted bail in that case.
The rape case and other connected cases were 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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UDF will have huge win in Kerala, NDA won't open its account: Cong leader Satheesan
Kochi (PTI): Senior Congress leader V D Satheesan on Friday expressed confidence in a huge win by the UDF, claiming it will make a clean sweep in five districts, and brushed aside speculations that the NDA will open its account in Kerala.
Satheesan, speaking to reporters here a day after the conclusion of the Assembly polls, praised the performance of the UDF leaders and workers during the election, saying it was the best ever he has seen in the last 30 years.
He said that his claims of the UDF getting over 100 seats is not a mere statement, but based on the work the front has done during the last five years to bring back all those who had left it in 2005 and as a result, there was a huge wave in its favour in the state.
The leader of opposition in the state assembly, who contested from the Paravoor constituency, further said that the Congress-led front also had a major social backing from minorities and marginalised groups in the society.
Besides that, there was an anti-incumbency feeling among the people who were disappointed with the LDF rule, he claimed and said that the UDF provided them with a hope and an alternative which no other opposition had done in the past.
"All these factors will contribute to a huge win for the UDF and it would not be surprising if we make a clean sweep in Malappuram, Wayanad, Ernakulam, Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts. That is a total of 43 seats," he said.
According to him, the polling percentage increased because the UDF got people added to the electoral list.
He also brushed aside the LDF remarks about a woman or youth CM, saying that "they can make such statements now as they know they cannot win".
"Otherwise, why did they campaign with Pinarayi Vijayan as the main factor. Why did they say a third Pinarayi rule will come?" he asked.
He also claimed that the LDF's decision to spend government money on its political campaign, by putting up hoardings and carrying out social media programmes to sway voters, has also backfired as people realised that their taxes were being wasted like that.
Asked whether the NDA will open its account, especially in areas where the UDF claimed the BJP-led front had made a deal with the LDF, Satheesan replied in the negative.
He said that as of now he does not see any chance of the NDA opening its account in the state.
