India, Dec. 27 -- The Delhi high court erred in narrowly defining "public servant" while suspending former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Kuldeep Singh Sengar's life sentence in the 2017 rape case in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said. In its appeal against the high court order, the CBI urged the Supreme Court to adopt a "purposive" and "harmonious" interpretation of the term.

On December 23, the high court suspended Sengar's life sentence. The high court said a member of a legislative assembly (MLA) does not fall within the definition of "public servant" under the Indian Penal Code (IPC)'s Section 21, which the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act uses to define the term....