New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Thursday sought response of the CBI and the victim on a plea by expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar seeking bail in a case in which he was sentenced to life term for raping a minor girl in UP's Unnao in 2017. A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar issued notice to the CBI and the victim on the bail plea and listed the matter for further hearing on May 25.
The court also sought a response from the CBI and the victim on another application by Sengar in which he sought the production of additional evidence in support of his appeal challenging the trial court's verdict in the case. In his pending appeal against the trial court's order, Sengar had filed the bail plea, in which he was convicted of raping the 17-year-old girl. The trial court had sentenced Sengar to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 25 lakh.
Sengar's counsel told the court that they were seeking the victim's age certificate, which would show that she was not a minor at the time of the crime. In December 2019, a Delhi court had sentenced Sengar to life imprisonment in the 2017 Unnao rape case. The CBI court also imposed a fine of Rs 25 lakh on Sengar. As per the order, out of this amount, ₹10 lakh was to be given to the victim and ₹15 lakh was to be earmarked for prosecution expenses.
The court had also directed that adequate steps shall be taken by the CBI to ensure that the life and liberty of the survivor and her family are protected by providing a safe home and change of identity if desired by the family. While awarding maximum punishment to Sengar, the court observed that there were no mitigating circumstances.
It was added that being a public servant in a democratic set-up, Sengar enjoyed the trust of the people, who had been betrayed and to do so was enough just an act of corruption. The court also took note of the fact that even after the crime was committed, Sengar made all efforts to silence the victim and her family.
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