The Supreme Court today sentenced the Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu to one year in prison in a 34-year-old road rage case, a major setback for the cricketer-turned-politician just months after losing an election.
Navjot Sidhu, 58, must appear in court and suffer a year of “severe incarceration.” “Will surrender to the majesty of law…,” the former Punjab Congress chairman tweeted this morning after taking part in a rally.
The Supreme Court was considering a plea from the family of a man who died in 1988 as a result of a brawl with Mr Sidhu and his associate.
Mr Sidhu, who recently resigned as Punjab Congress chief following his party’s defeat in state elections, has been haunted by the episode and its legal repercussions for more than three decades. The victim’s family had requested more serious charges against Mr Sidhu, as well as a reconsideration of a Supreme Court judgment exonerating him in 2018.
Mr Sidhu got into an altercation with Gurnam Singh, a Patiala resident, over a parking location on December 27, 1988. Mr Sidhu and his friend, Rupinder Singh Sandhu, are accused of dragging Gurnam Singh from his car and striking him. He died afterwards.
Mr Sidhu and his friend were acquitted by a Patiala sessions court in 1999, alleging a lack of proof and the benefit of the doubt.
On appeal, the Punjab and Haryana High Court found Mr Sidhu guilty of culpable homicide and sentenced him to three years in prison in 2006. Mr Sidhu took his case to the Supreme Court in 2018, which overturned the High Court’s decision, stating that there was no evidence the man died from a single hit.
The victim’s family asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision and consider more serious charges. Mr Sidhu had objected to the family’s request for a review. The petition of the Congress leader was heard by the Supreme Court today.
