The Delhi high court on Tuesday extended till February 20 the interim bail granted to Jaideep Singh Sengar, brother of expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar, in a case pertaining to the death of the Unnao rape victim’s father, even as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) opposed the same.
The CBI’s counsel submitted before a bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma that the documents Jaideep relied upon in support of his plea were fabricated. The counsel further pointed out that Jaideep had approached the court again despite its indication on February 3 that the court would hear the appeal against the March 2020 conviction order on a day-to-day basis from February 11.
However, the court asked the CBI to file a detailed report demonstrating that the documents relied upon by Jaideep to seek extension were fabricated and fixed February 20 as the next date of hearing.
“CBI has not filed a verification report, if the documents relied on by the petitioner are fabricated… I’m extending it (interim bail) till Friday. Till then, you (CBI) file a detailed report,” the court said.
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The court passed the order while dealing with Jaideep’s application seeking suspension of his sentence for a further period of three months on the ground that he is suffering from relapsed oral cancer. To be sure, the high court in July 2024 had granted Jaideep interim bail on medical grounds, which has been extended from time to time. The bail was last extended till February 17 on November 11.
The application was filed in Jaideep’s appeal against city court’s March 2020 order, convicting seven persons including him, his brother and two policemen– Ashok Singh Bhadauria and KP Singh for culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 304), criminal conspiracy (120B), wrongful restraint (341), voluntarily causing hurt (323) and relevant sections of Arms Act of the Indian Penal Code. They were also awarded 10-year sentences.
Jaideep was convicted for his role in the group that assaulted the victim’s father in 2018, when the former had gone with his co-workers in Unnao to attend a hearing in the rape case. The police later arrested the father for allegedly possessing illegal arms, and he later succumbed to multiple injuries suffered in police custody.
