New Delhi, Dec 29: The Supreme Court on Monday put on hold the Delhi High Court’s decision to suspend the life sentence of expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case.

A vacation bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices J K Maheshwari and Augustine George Masih issued notice to Sengar on the Central Bureau of Investigation’s plea challenging the high court order.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, urged the court to immediately stay the suspension of the sentence.

The bench said the matter raised substantial questions of law that required consideration and clarified that Sengar would not be released from custody despite the Delhi High Court’s December 23 order. The case has been listed for further hearing after four weeks.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had suspended Sengar’s life sentence, noting that he had already spent seven years and five months in prison. The suspension was granted pending disposal of his appeal against the December 2019 trial court verdict that convicted him in the rape case.

However, Sengar will continue to remain in jail as he is also serving a 10-year sentence in the custodial death case of the rape survivor’s father and has not been granted bail in that matter.

The Unnao rape case and related cases were transferred from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi on August 1, 2019, following directions from the Supreme Court.