Delhi High Court grants interim bail to Kuldeep Singh Sengar for medical treatment

The Delhi High Court on Thursday granted medical bail to former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and Unnao rape case convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar to undergo treatment for retinal detachment [Kuldeep Singh Sengar v CBI]..A Bench of Justices Pratibha M Singh and Amit Sharma directed that he be admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi for an initial assessment to determine whether his condition can be treated locally or whether he would have to be referred elsewhere."Granted interim bail for 2 weeks and to be admitted in AIIMS Delhi for reviewing his condition tomorrow for 3-4 days, AIIMS to ascertain if his condition can be treated in Delhi itself. If he is to be released from hospital then Sengar is to reside in a known location and won’t contact the survivor. Local CBI to be in touch with AIIMS to monitor his movement. Sengar to remain in touch with IO daily," the Court said..Senior Advocate Narayanan Hariharan argued that Sengar’s medical condition was critical, requiring immediate attention. He stated that Sengar had been advised surgery for retinal detachment and wished to undergo treatment in Chennai. Hariharan highlighted that Sengar also suffered from other ailments.Advocate Mehmood Pracha, representing the survivor, opposed the bail application. He contended that adequate medical treatment could be provided within the jail and expressed concerns regarding the accuracy of Sengar’s medical reports. Pracha emphasized that Sengar posed a potential threat to the survivor and her family, whose safety remains under Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) protection.The next date of hearing is December 20..The Unnao rape survivor was allegedly kidnapped and raped by Sengar between June 11 and June 20, 2017. She was then sold for ₹60,000, after which she was recovered at the Maakhi police station.The survivor was thereafter continuously threatened and warned by the police officials against speaking out.The case took a controversial turn after a lorry without a number plate rammed into the car in which the victim was traveling. The victim and her lawyer were critically injured, while two of her aunts passed away.In August 2019, the Supreme Court transferred the trial in four cases relating to the Unnao rape case to Delhi and ordered that the same be held on a day-to-day basis and completed within 45 days.Sengar was convicted in December 2019 for the rape of the minor victim as well as for the custodial death of the victim’s father. He was sentenced to life-imprisonment in the rape case and sent to jail for 10 years in the custodial death case..Senior Advocate N Hariharan with Advocates Shashi Tripathi, Sharian Mukherji, Aman Akhtar, Sana Singh and Vasundhara N, appeared for Sengar.Special Public Prosecutor Ravi Sharma appeared for CBI. Advocates Mehmood Pracha, R.H.A. Sikander, Jatin Bhatt, Sanawar Chaudhary, Kshitij Singh and Nuzat Nasum, appeared for the Survivor.[Read order]