The Supreme Court on Friday set aside the Delhi High Court’s order suspending the jail sentence of former Uttar Pradesh BJP legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case and granting him bail. The apex court also directed the Delhi High Court to expeditiously decide his appeal against conviction, preferably within two months.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi remanded the matter back to the Delhi High Court for reconsideration. The Bench clarified that if the appeal is not taken up promptly, the High Court may reconsider Sengar’s plea for suspension of sentence afresh before the commencement of the summer vacation.
The top court passed the order while hearing an appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging the Delhi High Court’s December 2025 order suspending Sengar’s sentence and granting him bail during the pendency of his appeal against conviction.
During the hearing, the Bench also expressed disagreement with the Delhi High Court’s prima facie observation that the offence of aggravated penetrative sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act was not attracted in Sengar’s case.
Under Section 5 of the POCSO Act, penetrative sexual assault becomes aggravated if committed by a public servant or a person in a position of trust or authority. However, while suspending the sentence, the Delhi High Court had observed that Sengar could not strictly be termed a public servant or a person occupying a position of trust or authority for the purpose of invoking the aggravated offence provision.
Justice Joymalya Bagchi, however, said the Supreme Court could not endorse what he described as the “hyper-technical conclusion” reached by the High Court, emphasising that the POCSO Act is a penal legislation enacted to protect children from sexual exploitation.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, argued that an MLA undoubtedly occupies a dominant position in society.
Senior advocate N. Hariharan, appearing for Sengar, questioned the applicability of the POCSO Act and argued that medical evidence including an AIIMS report, indicated that the prosecutrix was not a minor.
The case relates to allegations that a 17-year-old girl was kidnapped and raped by Sengar in June 2017. An FIR was subsequently registered against him for rape, kidnapping, criminal intimidation, and offences under the POCSO Act.
In December 2019, a Delhi trial court convicted Kuldeep Singh Sengar and sentenced him to life imprisonment, besides imposing a fine of ₹25 lakh. His appeal against conviction is currently pending before the Delhi High Court.