On Friday the Delhi High Court granted bail to Ashok Singh Bhadauria and Kamta Prasad, two Police officials of Uttar Pradesh who were convicted for the custodial death of the Unnao rape victim’s father.
Former Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, Bhadauria, Prasad, and others were convicted in the case by the trial court in March 2020 for several offences including culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
All the convicted were ordered to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma granted bail to Bhadauria and Prasad, after taking into consideration that both the convicts have undergone sentences of more than four years.
The bail decision was based on a settled proposition that for cases except for life sentences, the broad parameter of 50% of the actual sentence undergone can be the basis of the grant of bail, the Court cleared.
In its judgment, it stated, “…it is a matter of record that an appeal in the case was admitted on 31.07.2020 however, the Court has not been able to hear it. It is also a matter of the record that the appellants did not misuse the liberty of interim bail granted to them from time to time.“
The Court ordered them to be released on bail after furnishing a bond of ₹50,000.
The minor Unnao rape survivor was kidnapped and raped by Sengar between June 11 and June 20, 2017. She was then sold for ₹60,000, afterwards she was recovered at the Makhi Police Station.
Even after that the survivor was getting continuous threats and warned by the police officials against speaking out, as instructed by Sengar.
On April 9, 2018, the rape victim’s father died in custody. It was alleged that he was assaulted after a quarrel with some of the accused in the case. It was further alleged that he was taken to the Makhi police station and framed for possessing an illegal firearm. Further, he was sent to custodial remand, he died in the same remand.
In the matter, a total of seven (7) people were found guilty.
The Unnao rape case grabbed national attention after a lorry without a number plate rammed into the car in which the victim was boarded. The victim and her lawyer were critically injured while two of her aunts passed away.
Consequently, the Supreme Court transferred the trial in all four cases to Delhi from Lucknow and also ordered that the same be held daily and be completed within 45 days.
Sengar and others have been convicted in the case.
Senior Advocate Mohit Mathur with Advocates Rajiv Mohan, Nishant Madan, Shivender Gupta, and Swapnil Tripathi appeared for Ashok Singh Bhadauria.
Advocates Akhand Pratap Singh, Samridhi D, and Abhinandan Gautam appeared for Kamta Prasad.
The Special Public Prosecutor Nikhil Goel, Advocates Kartik Kaushal, Adithya Koshy Roy, and Siddhi Gupta represented the CBI.
Advocates Mehmood Pracha, Sanawar, and Jatin Bhatt represented the complainant.
News Source: https://www.barandbench.com/news/unnao-rape-case-delhi-high-court-grants-bail-to-up-police-officials-convicted-custodial-death-victim-father