Unnao car crash: After CBI’s request, Supreme Court halts transfer of case to Delhi

The Supreme Court on Friday halted its earlier order by which it had transferred, from Rae Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi, the accident case in which the Unnao rape victim was severely injured the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the judges that it had complicated the agency’s efforts for custodial questioning of the expelled BJP legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar and other accused.

A bench, comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta, took note of the submission of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, that the accident took place last Sunday and the investigation was in progress.

Mehta said since the probe in the accident was still pending, the case cannot be transferred under the provisions of law and sought indulgence of the bench that its transfer be kept in abeyance till the conclusion of the probe.

The apex court on Thursday had granted seven days to the CBI to conclude the investigation and had ordered transfer of the five cases related to Unnao incident from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi.

In an accident involving victim's car and a truck, the girl and her lawyer were severely injured. Two aunts of the victim had died in the accident.

The woman, allegedly raped by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in 2017 when she was a minor, is battling for life after a truck rammed into the car she was travelling in with some family members and her lawyer. Two of her aunts died in the accident last Sunday.

Her family alleges that the collision was a deliberate attempt to kill her by those close to the MLA.

The apex court also directed shifting of the rape victim's uncle from Raebareli jail to Tihar and deferred the matter for further order on Monday.

His wife was in the ill-fated car and had died in the accident. He participated in her cremation on Wednesday after the Allahabad High Court granted him parole for a day.

He has been convicted in a 19-year-old case and sentenced to 10 years jail term on a case filed by Sengar's brother, Atul Singh.

The apex court also directed all media houses not to disclose the identity of the victim directly, indirectly, or in any manner.

During the brief hearing, the Uttar Pradesh government informed the bench that the interim compensation of Rs 25 lakh has already been released to the victim's family.

The Supreme Court has deferred hearing in the rape case for Monday.