Unnao verdict: When MLA isn’t ‘public servant’

A public servant has a higher sentence than a person who is not a public servant.

The Delhi High Court’s decision to suspend the life sentence of expelled Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case has triggered legal and public debate, not just because of the seeming injustice of it all, but because it relies on a technical yet far-reaching question of statutory interpretation: is a legislator a “public servant” under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The court ordered Sengar’s release pending his appeal, noting that he has already undergone about 7 years and 5 months of imprisonment following his conviction by a trial court. (Representational image)

At the heart of the controversy lies the court’s prima