New Delhi [India], December 29 : Former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to stay the operation of the Delhi High Court order that had suspended former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar's life sentence in the 2017 Unnao rape case.
He said the Delhi High Court's interim order had triggered widespread public outrage across the country.
Kumar noted that the Supreme Court took cognisance of the Central Bureau of Investigation's appeal, as the agency firmly believed the Delhi High Court's interim order suffered from legal shortcomings. He added that public anger over the decision was another key reason the apex court stepped in.
"The Supreme Court has obviously taken notice of the appeal filed by the CBI because there was a strong view within the CBI that the interim model of the High Court of Delhi had legal infirmities. The Supreme Court is seized of the matter also for the reason that there was outrage in the country against that interim order," Ashwani Kumar told ANI.
Kumar further stated that, keeping in mind public sentiment and the broader principles of law and justice, the Supreme Court is now expected to examine the correctness of the Delhi High Court's order.
"Therefore, consistent with the felt sensitivities of the people and consistent with the integrality of the law, in aid of justice, the Supreme Court is expected to take a call on the correctness or otherwise of the judgment of the Delhi High Court," Ashwani Kumar added.
Meanwhile, women's rights activist Yogita Bhayana described the Supreme Court's move as encouraging. She said it was a positive development that the apex court had indicated its inclination to stay the bail order, calling it the most significant update in the case so far.
"It is a positive sign that the Supreme Court said that they are inclined to stay the bail order. That is the biggest news as of now," Bhayana told reporters.
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Delhi High Court's order suspending the life sentence of expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case of a minor.
The Supreme Court's three-judge vacation bench, led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justices J.K. Maheshwari and A.G. Masih, was hearing the CBI's plea challenging the Delhi High Court's December 23 order, which had suspended Sengar's life sentence pending appeal and granted him bail.
Staying the High Court's order, the apex court noted that Sengar remains in custody in another case. "We are informed that the convict is also convicted and sentenced under Section 304 (murder) of the IPC and that he is still in custody in that case. Considering such peculiar circumstances, we stay the operation of the impugned order. The respondent shall not be released," the bench observed.
The Supreme Court also issued notice to Sengar, seeking his response to the CBI's plea within two weeks.
Sengar, a former Uttar Pradesh MLA, was convicted in December 2019 in the Unnao rape case and sentenced to life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 25 lakh. Although he was granted bail by the High Court in the rape case, he continued to remain in jail as he is serving a 10-year sentence in a separate CBI case related to murder.