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Former Uttar Pradesh MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar has suffered a major setback. The High Court had stayed the life sentence of Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the Unnao rape case. Now the Supreme Court has overturned the decision of the High Court and lifted the ban on punishment. The decision of the High Court in this case was challenged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). On this petition of CBI, the Supreme Court had earlier stayed the decision of the Delhi High Court and now overturning that decision, it has ordered the continuation of the life sentence. Interestingly, Kuldeep Sengar was also found guilty in the case of the death of the rape victim’s father, hence despite his sentence being stayed, he could not come out of jail.

On Friday, the bench of Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymala Bagchi heard this case. The Supreme Court has now ordered the Delhi High Court to take its decision on this matter within two months and for this it should not be influenced by the decision of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has asked the Delhi High Court to either hear Kuldeep Sengar’s petition in this case or issue a re-order on the petition to stay the sentence.

How did Kuldeep Sengar get relief?

Delhi High Court had stayed the life sentence given to Kuldeep Sengar last year i.e. in December 2025. The High Court had held that Section 376 (2) of the IPC and Section 5 (C) of the POCSO are not applicable in this case because Kuldeep Sengar cannot be considered a ‘public servant’ under these provisions. On this basis, the punishment of Kuldeep Sengar was stayed.

CBI immediately challenged this decision in the Supreme Court. CBI’s argument was that this decision of the High Court will reduce the impact of the POCSO Act. CBI had also said that it is not right to stay the sentence due to such a small technical explanation. She had argued that despite the victim in this case being a minor, the High Court did not understand the correct interpretation of the POCSO Act.

What is the matter?

This case is of rape of a minor boy. In this case of 2017, the victim’s father died in police custody. Kuldeep Sengar was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2020 in the case of the death of the victim’s father. Earlier in the year 2019, the CBI court had found Kuldeep Sengar guilty of raping a minor girl and sentenced him to life imprisonment.