Overview
- Justice Ravinder Dudeja dismissed Kuldeep Singh Sengar’s application to suspend his sentence in the custodial death case, citing the seriousness of the offence, his antecedents, and the absence of new circumstances.
- The judge said prolonged incarceration and delay in hearing the appeal did not justify interim relief, noting that repeated applications by Sengar contributed to the delay.
- The High Court directed that the appeal be heard expeditiously and listed the matter for detailed arguments on February 3.
- Sengar has been in custody since April 13, 2018, serving the 10-year term in the custodial death case while also facing a life sentence in the separate 2017 rape case, whose suspension by the High Court was stayed by the Supreme Court on December 29, 2025.
- A trial court on March 13, 2020, imposed 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and a Rs 10 lakh fine for the custodial death, also sentencing his brother Atul and five others after the survivor’s father died in custody on April 9, 2018, following an assault and arrest.