NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court approved temporary bail for Kuldeep Singh Sengar, the former BJP leader and Unnao rape case convict, until February 4 to undergo an eye operation.
The bench, comprising Justices Yashwant Varma and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, temporarily suspended his sentence, considering his scheduled cataract procedure on Tuesday at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the capital.
The judicial bench has instructed Sengar to return to custody and present himself to prison authorities on February 5.
“We are of the opinion that the sentence warrants to be suspended for the purpose of applicant’s medical procedure which is fixed for February 4, 2025 subject to conditions identical to those set forth in December 20, 2024 order. The applicant shall surrender on February 5 before the jail superintendent,” the bench said.
The counsel representing the leader notified the court that Sengar’s scheduled surgery was postponed due to unavoidable circumstances.
The counsel requested an additional two days, stating that Sengar requires admission to AIIMS for the medical procedure, now scheduled for February 4.
Previously, the court had granted temporary bail to the politician for his medical treatment.
The survivor’s legal representative contested the request, arguing against continuous extensions of interim bail.
Sengar’s application for extending his interim bail, which is part of his appeal challenging the trial court’s December 2019 verdict in the rape case, remains pending in the high court. He seeks to overturn both his conviction and sentence.
In 2017, Sengar allegedly abducted and raped the minor girl.
Following the Supreme Court’s directives on August 1, 2019, the rape case and related matters were moved from a Uttar Pradesh trial court to Delhi.