In the second major twist that has put the rape case involving unnao back on the deliberation table, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is going to appeal twice to the decision made by the high court of Delhi which granted a bail to one of the disowned bjp legislators, Kuldeep Singh Sengar. One of the most controversial and politically unstable cases in the recent past is kidnapping and rape of minor girl that occurred in one of the districts known as Unnao in the year 2017. In 2019, Sengar was convicted of a life sentence.
Background of the Case
The case was initially publicized when in 2018, the rape victim tried to commit suicide in front of the house of the Chief Minister of the Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath accusing of police inaction with the case. After a massive clamour of the masses, the case was referred to CBI that favored a number of chargesheets against Sengar and on the individuals who were too implicated in the case. The court of law under which the case was held was the Delhi high court as the Supreme Court had tasked the transfer not to be given to Uttar Pradesh due to the security risk of the survivor and her family.
Sengar was convicted of rape of the underage girl and of kidnapping her as stipulated in the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children against sexual offence (POCSO) act of the 20 th of December 2019. He received life imprisonment, together with his accomplice, to other individuals accused of the relevant crimes who were going through their various trials.
Scandalous Bail Decision.
Sengar was granted conditional bail in the Delhi High Court on December 20, 2025 due to the extended imprisonment period and five years in jail. According to the suggestions made by the court, the conviction of his appeal was not fully heard and that all the prosecution witnesses were already interrogated by the trial court and therefore the likelihood of interfering with the evidence was limited to bare minimum. Women rights activists, opposition parties such as the legal team of the victim lamented the ruling since it was a failure on their part considering that they had tried to seek the justice instantly.
Certain conditions were imposed on Sengar by the court such as not being able to travel, visit the authorities regularly, and it could not go anywhere around the survivor and her family but the terms were not quite accepted or even feared precedence had been granted by the court of cases of serious sexual offence, in the social and political circles.
CBI to File Appeal
With the backlash and consultation with the ministry of Home Affairs, now CBI is ready to appeal before the Supreme Court in the order of the High Court. The rationale that the officials in the agency put forward is to ensure that justice will be done based on the extent of the crime and the nature of conviction. The CBI argues that the probability of Sengar intimidating the witnesses as well as destroying the faith of the victim in the court through the release of the Sengar is higher.
The investigating organization would state that absence of the presence of the survivor would have been among the factors that the High Court would have taken into consideration based on the fact that the crimes committed were serious and the survivor had to be under protection. The agency also assumes that the early release will be able to impact the cases which will be discussed as soon as possible such as witness tampering and the so-called intimidation. Cases in which heinous crimes against women and children have been committed, the Supreme Court in similar cases has on numerous occasions overturned the decision of the bail officers as suggested by the legal thinkers.
Political and Public response.
The legal ruling on the case involving the accountability and the authority of the criminal process has been mentioned to be a politically contentious case again. The opposition leadership accused the ruling dispensation of not doing everything it could to ensure that the survivor is vindicated and urged the government to come out front and speak up in support of the petition which the CBI had raised. The Bharatiya Janata Party which excommunicated him in the year 2019 said that it does not endorse crimes against women in the case of Sengar who was convicted in 2019.
The parties too have been maliciously responding. The social media messages have been overwhelmed with the social media actors agreeing with the survivor and the dissatisfaction that there is nothing serious about big convicts within the system of justice. It has also been coerced by the civil rights groups as well as the lawyers associations to have the case in question heard by the Supreme court.
Survivor of Family Appeal to Justice.
The bail order itself was rather disappointing to the family of the still under security cover survivor. She was informing them that they must trust the justice that is above and they are certain that the Supreme Court will make them trust the justice once more. They further demanded that the government should fasten the hearing process as well as ensure that there is no threats to the safety of witnesses during the hearing process.
What Lies Ahead
The petition of CBI would be prima facie registered within the next few days in a bench of Supreme Court of which the legality of the order of the High Court granting the bails would be discussed. The case has been theorized as a case of critical analysis of how the courts will strike a balance between the rights of the convicts who are appealing their cases against the need to serve a justice in the crime of sexual violence and power abuse.
Unnao case is once more at crossroad as soon, the investigation agency will take the case to the paramount court of the country on behalf of the good and the challenge in the Indian long struggle to justice in the hands of rape victims.
