The Supreme Court on monday stayed the Delhi High Court’s order that had suspended the life sentence of expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case involving a minor. A three-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices JK Maheshwari and Augustine George Masih, also issued notice to Sengar regarding the CBI’s appeal against the High Court’s decision. The court emphasized that Sengar remains in jail for a separate case and directed that he should not be released while the matter is under review.

During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, argued that under the POCSO Act, a "public servant" is someone in a dominant position over a child, and misuse of such a position constitutes an aggravated offence. He contended that Sengar, as a powerful MLA at the time, clearly abused his authority. Sengar’s lawyers countered that an MLA cannot be considered a public servant under the Act for aggravated offences.

The bench expressed concern that the Delhi High Court’s interpretation could wrongly exclude lawmakers from the definition of "public servant," potentially granting them immunity. The High Court had suspended Sengar’s sentence on December 23, noting that a prima facie case for aggravated penetrative sexual assault under the POCSO Act was not established.

The CBI challenged this, arguing that as a sitting MLA, Sengar held a constitutional position of trust and authority, and his actions fell under the aggravated offence provisions of the POCSO Act, which mandates a minimum of 20 years to life imprisonment. Sengar was convicted in 2019 by a Delhi trial court for offences under the IPC and POCSO, and the survivor was a minor who was allegedly kidnapped, raped, and trafficked by him in June 2017.