New Delhi, March 9 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing on a plea filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging the bail granted to expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case. 

Due to the non-availability of Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, a Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi deferred the hearing and said that the matter would be taken up after two weeks.

At the same time, the apex court allowed the impleadment application filed by the rape survivor, observing that she has a right to be heard in the CBI’s special leave petition (SLP). 

However, the CJI-led Bench declined to entertain an intervention application filed by the survivor’s cousin seeking protection on the ground of threat to his life and liberty if Sengar were granted bail. 

Observing that the applicant ought to avail an independent remedy, the Supreme Court remarked that the plea seeking protection could be pursued before the jurisdictional High Court. 

"Avail your independent remedy before the High Court for protection of life and liberty," the bench said while disposing of the intervention application filed by the minor son of the brother of the father of the Unnao rape victim. 

During the brief hearing, senior advocate N. Hariharan, appearing for Sengar, urged the top court to list the matter for hearing at the earliest, stating that the liberty granted to his client by the Delhi High Court had been curtailed following the Supreme Court’s earlier interim order. 

In response, the CJI said that a date for the final hearing would be fixed soon. 

The CJI Surya Kant-led Bench was hearing the CBI’s plea challenging the December 2025 order of the Delhi High Court, which had suspended Sengar’s life sentence and granted him conditional bail during the pendency of his appeal. The bail order had triggered protests by the survivor’s family and women’s rights activists, who said it had "shaken public faith" and sent a wrong message on crimes against women. 

In December last year, the Supreme Court had stayed the operation of the Delhi High Court’s order and clarified that Sengar would not be released pursuant to the impugned judgment. 

In December 2019, a trial court had convicted Sengar of kidnapping and raping a minor girl and sentenced him to imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life, along with a fine of Rs 25 lakh. The Supreme Court had earlier transferred all cases related to the incident from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi and directed that the trial be conducted on a day-to-day basis. 

--IANS