Delhi High Court Grants Bail to Former MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in Unnao Rape Case
(By Syed Ali Taher Abedi)
New Delhi: 24, Decmber,2025-The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted bail to former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case, suspending his life sentence during the pendency of his appeal against conviction.
A Division Bench comprising Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidinathan Shankar ordered Sengar’s release on bail subject to strict conditions.
The Court directed that Sengar shall not enter within a five-kilometre radius of the victim, shall remain within the territorial limits of Delhi for the duration of the bail, and shall report to the concerned police station every Monday.
The Bench made it clear that any violation of the conditions would result in the cancellation of bail.
The appeal pending before the High Court challenges the trial court judgment that convicted Sengar for the rape of a 17-year-old girl. The trial court had sentenced him to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹25 lakh.
According to the prosecution, the victim was kidnapped and raped by Sengar between June 11 and June 20, 2017, and was later allegedly sold for ₹60,000. It was further alleged that police officials, acting at Sengar’s behest, threatened and warned the victim against speaking out.
An FIR was eventually registered against Sengar for rape, criminal intimidation and offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. He was arrested pursuant to the directions of the Allahabad High Court.
In August 2019, the Supreme Court transferred all four cases arising out of the Unnao incident from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi and directed that the trials be concluded within 45 days. In December 2019, the trial court convicted Sengar and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
While awarding the sentence, the trial court observed that there were no mitigating circumstances in his favour, noting that as a public servant in a democratic setup, he had enjoyed the trust of the people, which he had betrayed.
The court had remarked that even a single act of depravity was sufficient to shatter such faith.
Meanwhile, during the pendency of the proceedings, a lorry without a number plate rammed into the car in which the victim was travelling. The victim and her lawyer sustained critical injuries, while two of her aunts died in the incident.
A separate case was registered against Sengar in connection with the accident.
However, in December, he was discharged from the case after the court found that there was no prima facie evidence to establish that he had orchestrated the crash.
Senior Advocates N. Hariharan and Manish Vashist, along with a team of advocates including S.P.M. Tripathi, Amit Sinha, Deepak Sharma, Rahul Poonia, Ambuj Singh, Ashis Tiwari, Aishwarya Sengar, Gaurav Kumar, Saurabh Dwivedi, Rekha Puniya, Angara Vasundhra, N. Aman Akhtar, Sana Singh, Vasundhara Raj Tyagi, Arjan Singh Mandla, Gauri Ramachandran, Vedant Vashist and Swapan Singhal, appeared on behalf of Sengar.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was represented by Special Public Prosecutor Anubha Bhardwaj along with Advocates Vijay Mishra and Ananya Shamshery.
Advocates Mehmood Pracha, Sanawar, Jatin Bhatt, Kshitij Singh and Kumail Abbas appeared for the complainant, while Advocate Urvi Mohan represented the Delhi Commission for Women.
Sengar’s appeal against his conviction remains pending before the Delhi High Court.
