Unnao rape case that’s been dragging on for many years? Kuldeep Singh Sengar, the former BJP MLA who got his life in jail back in 2019 for raping a minor girl? Well, things just about to heated again.
A few days ago, on December 23, the Delhi High Court dropped a bombshell—they suspended his life sentence and even granted him conditional bail while his appeal is pending. They said he’d already served over seven years and five months, which is more than the minimum under the old POCSO rules, and get this: they ruled that as an MLA back then, he didn’t count as a “public servant” for the tougher penalties under the law. Bail conditions are strict—no going within 5 km of the survivor’s home in Delhi, no threats, big bond money—but still, it sparked massive outrage.
The survivor? She’s absolutely gutted. She called it “like death” for her family, terrified old threats will come back. Her mom and women’s groups protested outside the high court and even near Parliament, getting detained in some spots. The survivor even went to the CBI, accusing the original investigating officer of colluding with Sengar, slipping in fake stuff to weaken the case. She’s planning her own Supreme Court move too.
The CBI wasn’t having it. They called the high court order wrong—said an MLA totally holds public office and should be seen as a public servant. They rushed a special leave petition to the Supreme Court, labeling it “perverse” and ignoring how serious the crime was.
And tomorrow, December 29, it’s going down. A big bench—Chief Justice Surya Kant, with Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Augustine George Masih—is set to hear the CBI’s plea. There’s another petition from some lawyers challenging the bail too. Everyone’s watching to see if the Supreme Court stays the high court order or lets Sengar potentially walk (though he’s still in for the separate 10-year sentence over the girl’s father’s custodial death).
In This case—it’s not just only legal stuff. It’s about power abusing the powerless, a minor girl and her family fighting through rape, intimidation, her dad’s death in custody, that horrific truck accident trying to make them silence. Eight years on, the survivor’s still battling, still hoping for real justice. Fingers crossed tomorrow tips the scales right. She’s been through too much already.
Sources:
PTI, ANI, The Hindu, Indian Express, NDTV, Times of India, Supreme Court of India cause list
