Delhi HC issues notice to CBI on Kuldeep Sengar's plea challenging conviction, life term in Unnao rape case

The Delhi High Court on Friday issued a notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on an appeal filed by expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar challenging a trial court's verdict which had sentenced him to life imprisonment for raping a minor girl in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao in 2017.

A Division Bench of Justices Manmohan and Sangeeta Dhingra Sehgal sought response from the investigating agency and rape survivor's family and posted the matter to May 4.

The court also granted Sengar time of two more months to deposit the amount levied on him for the commission on crime.

The trial court, in its judgement, had directed him to give Rs 10 lakh amount to the victim and Rs 15 lakh to the court's registry within 30 days.

Advocate N Hariharan, who represented Sengar in the court, argued that the trial court's order was full of "misconclution". "Evidence was ignored. My client presence was not at the location where this alleged incident took place," he told the court.

Sengar has approached the Delhi High Court challenging his conviction and sentencing in connection with the rape case.

On December 16 last year, Sengar was found guilty by a Delhi court for raping a minor girl in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district 2017.

The court convicted him under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 5 (c) and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which pertains to penetrative sexual assault committed against a child by a public servant.

It had awarded him the maximum punishment of life term with a rider that the convict will remain in jail for "remainder of his natural biological life" and also imposed an exemplary fine of Rs 25 lakh on him to be paid within a month.

Sengar, a four-time BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh's Bangarmau, had raped the girl at his residence in Unnao in June 2017, where she had gone seeking a job. Later he was arrested and is currently lodged in Tihar jail.