NEW DELHI:
Delhi high court
on Friday refused to suspend the
10-year jail term
awarded to expelled BJP leader
Kuldeep Singh Sengar
for the
custodial death
of the
Unnao rape victim
‘s father.
Seeking suspension of his sentence during the pendency of his appeal against conviction, Sengar said that he had already served almost six years, and the prosecution’s case against him was solely based on circumstantial evidence.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, however, said once an accused is held guilty, the presumption of innocence gets erased. His application for suspension of sentence has to be considered on the basis of a prima facie view of his role, gravity of offence, etc and the period undergone in jail is only one of these several factors, Justice Sharma said. The court noted that factors such as nature of the crime, criminal antecedents of the convict, impact on public confidence and threat to the victims have to be appreciated while deciding suspension of sentence.
