New Delhi (The Hawk): On Thursday, the Delhi High Court gave notice and ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the claims made in the bail request of former UP BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and provide a status report by January 16.
Sengar was found guilty of raping a little girl in the state's Unnao in 2017 and received a life sentence.
The CBI was directed by a division bench consisting of Justices Mukta Gupta and Poonam A. Bamba.
Sengar had requested two months' interim bail from the court on December 19 in order to attend his daughter's wedding, which is set for February 8, 2023, with ceremonies beginning on January 18.
Justice Talwant Singh and Justice Siddharth Mridul, sitting as a divisional bench, had ordered that the petition be heard by any other bench other than their own.
It had commanded, "Subject to getting directions from the Chief Justice, list this application before a bench in which one of us, namely Justice Talwant Singh, is not a member."
The high court is currently hearing Sengar's appeal of the trial court's decision in the rape case. He is requesting the quashing of the trial court's ruling from December 16, 2019, which found him guilty, and the judgement from December 20, 2019, which sentenced him to life in prison.
Sengar was fined an additional Rs. 25 lakh as an example by the trial court in addition to finding him guilty of rape committed by a public official under Section 376(2) of the IPC.
After the Supreme Court ordered on August 1 to transfer all five cases relating to the matter from Unnao to Delhi, the trial began on August 5, 2019.
The top court had ordered that the trial be held every day and finished in 45 days.
(Inputs from Agencies)