New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation will immediately challenge the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court order that suspended the life sentence of former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the Unnao rape case. The agency has decided to file its application urgently, a day after the High Court granted Sengar bail while his appeal against conviction remains pending.

The agency said it has reviewed the Delhi High Court order in which a Division Bench suspended Kuldeep Singh Sengar’s sentence and granted him bail while his appeal against conviction is still pending. It added that the CBI will move the Supreme Court with a Special Leave Petition seeking to overturn the relief granted to the former MLA.

It was decided to file an SLP before the Supreme Court at the earliest against the orders of the high court, which granted bail to Sengar after suspending his life sentence, a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.

According to the agency, it had firmly opposed both Sengar’s appeal and his bail plea before the High Court, filing comprehensive replies and written submissions on time to argue against suspending the sentence. The survivor’s family had also strongly objected to the bail request, raising concerns about their safety and alleging ongoing intimidation.

"The CBI filed timely replies and written arguments in this matter. The family of the victim has also opposed the petition citing safety and threats. The CBI will immediately challenge this order," the statement said.

The suspension of sentence has triggered strong reactions, with the survivor and her mother staging protests in Delhi and meeting senior Congress leaders.

Survivor meets Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi

A day after Sengar was granted bail, the survivor met with Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. She and her mother have been demonstrating in the national capital since Tuesday, expressing their disagreement with the High Court’s decision to give interim relief to the former MLA.

The meeting with the Congress leadership took place on Wednesday, reflecting growing political attention on the case following the latest court development.

High Court suspends life term pending appeal

On Tuesday, a Division Bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad and Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar suspended Sengar’s life sentence while hearing his appeal against the 2019 conviction by a Delhi CBI court. He was found guilty of raping a minor and had been serving a life term.

The High Court ordered Sengar’s release on bail, directing him to furnish a bond of Rs 15 lakh. His appeal continues to be under consideration.

Despite the suspension of his life sentence, Sengar will not walk out of prison immediately. He remains in custody in connection with the custodial death of the survivor’s father. In that case, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a Delhi court.

His application for suspension of sentence in the custodial death case is still pending before the Delhi High Court.

(With inputs from ANI)