Unnao Rape Case: Delhi High Court Refuses To Suspend Sentence Of Kukdeep Singh Sengar's Brother Convicted For Death Of Victim's Father

The Delhi High Court has refused to suspend the sentence of the brother of expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Senger, convicted for causing the death of the father of the 2018 Unnao rape victim.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma dismissed the application moved by Jaideep Singh Senger seeking suspension of his 10-year sentence awarded in March 2020, during the pendency of his appeal against the same.

Jaideep Singh, along with Kuldeep Singh Senger and five others were convicted by the trial court in 2020.

It was Singh's case that he was diagnosed with oral cancer in custody and had remained under the observation and supervision of doctors at AIIMS. He was granted interim bail in November 2020 after considering his medical conditions, and since then, the said interim bail was extended from time to time till January 18 last year.

In June last year suspended his sentence considering his fragile medical condition, as an interim measure for 8 weeks, which was also extended. Singh was out of prison after that.

It was also submitted that since the sentence of five co-accused persons was suspended, he also deserved to be allowed relief on the ground of parity.

On the other hand, the CBI opposed the plea on the ground that Singh had served only about 30% of his sentence i.e. three years out of ten years.

Justice Singh found no merit in Singh's plea seeking suspension of the sentence and accordingly, dismissed the same.

The court did so taking into account the period of custody undergone by Singh, his medical condition, the severity and gravity of the offence committed by him and the impact of public confidence in Courts for the purpose of deciding his application for suspension of sentence.

“The appellant herein has remained in judicial custody for a period of about three years, which is much lower than half of the total sentence awarded to the appellant i.e. rigorous imprisonment for ten years. Thus, the present appellant cannot also seek any relief on the ground of parity,” the court said.

It also perused the medical report submitted by AIIMS which stated that the movements of the upper limbs and neck of Singh are functional, and thus, he does not require any assistance in his day-to-day activities.

“Therefore, this Court is of the opinion that the medical report is clear on the point that the medical condition of the appellant is not of a nature that he cannot serve the sentence awarded to him, in the jail,” the court said.

However, the court clarified that the observations shall not be construed as an opinion on the merits of the case.

The court has now listed Singh's appeal against the sentence and conviction for hearing on May 05.

The victim was repeatedly gang-raped in 2017 by  Sengar and his accomplices when she was a minor.

Sengar was convicted for raping her and for murdering her father in connivance with police officers of Makhi, a village in Unnao district. He has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

The trial in the matter was transferred to Tis Hazari Courts by the Supreme Court in 2019 in the transfer petition moved by the survivor.

The apex court, taking cognisance of the rape survivor's letter written to then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, had transferred all five cases registered in connection with the incident from a Lucknow court in Uttar Pradesh to the court in Delhi with directions to hold the trial on a daily basis and complete it within 45 days.

Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. Pramod Kumar Dubey, Senior Advocate with Mr. Hemant Shah, Mr. S.P.M. Tripathi, Mr. Akshay Rana and Mr. Deepanshu Nainwal, Advocates

Counsel for Respondent: Mr. Nikhil Goel, SPP for CBI with Mr. Kartik Kaushal, Advocate; Mr. Mehmood Pracha and Mohd. Shameem, Advocates for complainant.

Title: JAIDEEP SINGH SENGER@ATUL SINGH v. CBI

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 101