New Delhi, December 31, 2025
In a stark reminder of how power can shield perpetrators of child sexual abuse, the Supreme Court of India's intervention in the infamous Unnao rape case has thrust a critical gap in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, into the national spotlight. The case of former Uttar Pradesh MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, convicted of raping a minor in 2017, underscores urgent calls for amending the law to explicitly recognize legislators as "public servants," ensuring stricter accountability for those in positions of authority.
On December 29, 2025, a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant stayed a controversial Delhi High Court order that had suspended Sengar's life sentence and granted him bail just weeks earlier. The apex court's move came amid widespread public outrage and legal arguments that the High Court's narrow interpretation of "public servant" under POCSO could inadvertently grant immunity to lawmakers accused of aggravated sexual offenses against children.
The Unnao case, which began as a harrowing tale of abuse and systemic failure, has unfolded over eight years. On June 4, 2017, a 17-year-old girl from Unnao district alleged that Sengar, then a powerful BJP MLA, raped her at his residence after luring her under false pretenses. When the victim's father filed a complaint, he was falsely implicated in a case, leading to his arrest and death in judicial custody on April 9, 2018—later ruled a custodial killing. The tragedy escalated further: Sengar's brother and associates allegedly attempted to murder the survivor and her family in a highway collision on December 6, 2018, prompting the CBI to take over the investigation.
Sengar was arrested in August 2018 and expelled from the BJP. In December 2019, a Delhi trial court convicted him of rape under POCSO and sentenced him to life imprisonment, terming the offense "aggravated penetrative sexual assault" due to his status as a public servant. He received a 10-year sentence for the father's custodial death. The Delhi High Court upheld the rape conviction in 2023 but, on November 23, 2025, suspended the life term and granted bail, citing Sengar's medical condition and arguing that MLAs do not qualify as "public servants" under Section 5(c) of POCSO, which attracts harsher penalties for such offenders.
This ruling, based on a 1984 Supreme Court precedent (R S Nayak v. A R Antulay*), held that legislators are not "public servants" under Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), as they are not in the "service or pay of the government." The High Court reasoned that without this classification, the offense did not fall under the "aggravated" category prohibiting sentence suspension.
The Supreme Court's swift stay has exposed the flaws in this interpretation. During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, urged a broader reading of "public servant" to include anyone in a "dominant position" over the victim—especially relevant for a "very powerful MLA" like Sengar. "If a person is in a dominant position over the victim, the crime should be interpreted as an ‘aggravated sexual assault’ under the POCSO Act," Mehta argued, emphasizing the victim's age of 15 at the time, which eliminates the need to separately prove dominance. He added, "We are answerable to the child who was only 15 years old when this gruesome crime happened to her."
Chief Justice Kant voiced judicial unease, questioning: “This interpretation would mean that a police constable or a patwari can be put away in jail for the rest of his natural life under the ‘aggravated penetrative sexual assault’ provision, while an MLA would be released because the term ‘public servant’ in the POCSO Act does not include an MLA or MP?” The bench cited "peculiar facts and circumstances," including Sengar's pending appeal in the custodial death case, and scheduled further hearings for January 20, 2026. It also assured the survivor—now a vocal advocate for justice—of free legal aid if needed.
Legal experts and activists have seized on the case to advocate for legislative reform. In an op-ed published in *The Indian Express* on December 29, Jindal Global Law School faculty Shashank Maheshwari argued that POCSO's purpose—to combat aggravated abuse through power imbalances—demands an expansive definition of "public servant." "The aggravation lies not in formal designation but in the capacity to intimidate, silence, or manipulate systems, which legislators disproportionately possess," Maheshwari wrote, critiquing the High Court's reliance on outdated IPC jurisprudence. He invoked recent Supreme Court rulings, like *Aman Bhatia v. State (NCT of Delhi)* (2025), which extended "public servant" to stamp vendors under anti-corruption laws, to argue that elected representatives' "public duties" inherently involve community interests.
Maheshwari warned that a rigid interpretation risks "turning the law into a shield for power, rather than a safeguard for children," urging the apex court to adapt precedents to POCSO's child-centric mandate. The survivor herself welcomed the stay, stating in a statement to *The Hindu*: "Justice delayed is justice denied, but today's order reaffirms that no one is above the law."
As the new year dawns, the Sengar saga serves as a litmus test for India's commitment to child protection. With over 1.5 lakh POCSO cases pending nationwide, activists demand swift amendments to close such loopholes, ensuring that the law's teeth bite hardest where power abuses the vulnerable. The Supreme Court's upcoming verdict could redefine accountability for India's lawmakers, turning a personal tragedy into a pivotal reform.
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