Delhi High Court Rejects Unnao Rape Victim's Plea To Lead Further Evidence Against Kuldeep Singh Sengar

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday rejected a plea filed by victim of Unnao rape case to lead further evidence against former Uttar Pradesh MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the case.A Justice Prathiba M Singh and Justice Madhu Jain dismissed the victim's fresh application to lead evidence in the appeal filed by Sengar in the year 2020, challenging his conviction as well as the life sentence.In her application, the victim had prayed for recording of further evidence and production of further documents, including her date of birth as per the school records.Perusing the documents, the Court today said that a letter showed that the school of the victim clearly certified that at the time of her admission, no other document such as the birth certificate was deposited with the school and that the same was also not necessary at the prevalent time as per the practice. The Bench referred to Section 94 of Juvenile Justice Act, which concerns determination of age of minor and provides that date of birth certificate from the school shall be produced and in absence of the same, birth certificate of municipal authorities be produced and in absence of either, bone ossification test can be conducted. The Court observed that the Principal of the school had appeared and gave testimonies before the trial court and that the admission register was also produced. It thus observed that it cannot be said that there would be any necessity to call for additional evidence at the appeal stage. “The application is rejected. The matter be heard on the basis of evidence on record. The contentions of parties are left open,” the Court said while listing the main appeal for hearing in July. The victim was represented by Advocate Mehmood Pracha. Senior Advocate N Hariharan appeared for Sengar.Sengar's sentence was suspended and he was granted bail by a coordinate bench on December 23, 2025. However, few days later, the Supreme Court had stayed the order on December 29, 2025.For context, while suspending Sengar's sentence, the Court had primarily held that the offence under Section 5(c) of the POCSO Act was not made out against him.It held that, at a prima facie stage, the offence did not qualify as aggravated penetrative sexual assault under Section 5 of the Act.The Court had ruled that the appellant, Sengar, could not be categorised as a “public servant” for the purposes of Section 5(c) of the POCSO Act or Section 376(2)(b) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The trial court had earlier convicted Sengar for aggravated penetrative sexual assault on the ground that he fell within the definition of a public servant.Sengar was convicted in 2019 by a special CBI court for raping a minor girl in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The case had drawn nationwide attention, with the survivor and her family alleging sustained harassment and intimidation by the former legislator and his associates. Several related cases, including those involving attacks on the survivor's family members, were also investigated by the CBI on the directions of the apex court.Sengar is also serving a 10 year sentence imposed on him in 2020 in a separate case related to the culpable homicide of the survivor's father.Title: Kuldeep Singh Sengar v. CBI

Delhi High Court Rejects Unnao Rape Victim's Plea To Lead Further Evidence Against Kuldeep Singh Sengar

Nupur Thapliyal

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