New Delhi, 23 Dec

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday suspended the life sentence of expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was convicted in the 2017 Unnao rape case, and granted him bail pending disposal of his appeal.

A Bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar directed Sengar’s release on bail subject to his furnishing a personal bond of ₹15 lakh with three sureties of the like amount.

The court also imposed strict conditions, directing Sengar not to enter within a 5-km radius of the survivor’s residence and restraining him from threatening or influencing the survivor or her mother. Any violation of the conditions would result in cancellation of bail, the court warned.

The sentence has been suspended during the pendency of Sengar’s appeal challenging his conviction and life imprisonment awarded by a trial court in December 2019.

The survivor, a minor at the time, was kidnapped and raped in 2017. On the directions of the Supreme Court, the rape case and related matters were transferred from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi in August 2019.

Sengar’s appeal in a separate case relating to the custodial death of the survivor’s father is also pending before the High Court. He was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in that case and has sought suspension of sentence on the ground that he has already spent a substantial period in custody.