New Delhi, Dec. 28 -- The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has challenged the Delhi high court's decision to suspend former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of the legislative assembly (MLA) Kuldeep Singh Sengar's life sentence in the 2017 Unnao rape case, arguing the court adopted an unduly narrow definition of "public servant" that defeats the legislative intent behind child protection laws. In its appeal filed on Friday, the agency urged the Supreme Court to adopt a "purposive" and "harmonious" interpretation of the term, contending that a sitting MLA-by virtue of holding a constitutional office-is vested with public trust and authority over the electorate. A Chief Justice of India (CJI)-led bench of the top court is scheduled to hear the CBI's appeal on Monday. The high court had on December 23 suspended Sengar's sentence on the ground that an MLA does not fall within the definition of "public servant" under Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for the purposes of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Sengar was convicted by a trial court in December 2019 under Section 5(c) of the POCSO Act for aggravated penetrative sexual assault of a minor and sentenced to life imprisonment. He has already served over seven years and five months. The high court concluded that the aggravated offence under Section 5(c) was not made out and that only an offence under Section 3 of the Pocso Act would apply. It held that Supreme Court rulings treating MPs and MLAs as public servants under the Prevention of Corruption Act could not be extended to Pocso offences. Finding serious fault with this reasoning, the CBI said the high court's approach ignores the common legislative intent underlying multiple statutes aimed at holding persons in positions of power accountable.htc...