"Delhi High Court order unfortunate, unjustifiable": CPI MP P Sandosh Kumar on Unnao Rape case verdict

New Delhi [India], December 25 : Communist Party of India MP P Sandosh Kumar on Thursday said that the Delhi High Court order to suspend the life sentence of former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and grant him bail in the 2017 Unnao rape case was "unfortunate and unjustifiable" and urged the Supreme Court to review the order.
Speaking with ANI, Sandosh Kumar accused the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of not showing "much interest" in opposing the appeal and bail application by Kuldeep Singh Sengar.
"This High Court was unfortunate and unjustifiable... The CBI didn't show that much interest in this case to oppose the application filed by the culprit. Such hooligans should not be let free... I hope the higher court will review this order," he said.
Meanwhile, CBI has decided to move to the Supreme Court to challenge the Delhi High Court order given by a division bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar.
The bench suspended the sentence and granted bail to Kuldeep Singh Sengar. He has been granted relief on the condition that he furnish a bail bond of Rs 15 lakh.
While granting bail, the High Court directed that Sengar not enter the 5-kilometre area where the victim resides in Delhi. It is also directed that Sengar Shall remain in Delhi. He shall not contact the victim's family members.
Following the order, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi strongly criticised the decision, calling it "disappointing and shameful" and questioning the manner in which the survivor continues to be treated by the system.
He further claimed that India is not just becoming a dead economy but, with such inhuman incidents, also turning into a dead society.
"We are not just becoming a dead economy--with such inhuman incidents, we are also turning into a dead society, he said.
Reacting to Rahul Gandhi's remark, CPI MP Sandosh Kumar said, "I don't think this is a dead society. The society can't die. We will fight it out... There are voices of dissent everywhere."
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said the Delhi HC order sends "a chilling message to the rape survivor." She also criticised police action to forcefully shove the Unnao Rape case victim in a van to stop her from protesting at the India Gate against the Delhi High Court's order.
"The Delhi High Court's suspension of the life sentence of former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar sends a chilling message to the rape survivor. Sadly, this is nothing new as leniency in brutal rape cases has been normalised under BJP Raj , and even protesting against such decisions has been criminalised, with protesters being brutally and forcibly removed," she said.
Meanwhile, CBI has decided to move to the Supreme Court to challenge the Delhi High Court order. The probe agency has examined the order passed by the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court in the Unnao Rape Case and has decided to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court at the earliest, an official said.