Navjot Singh Sidhu, a Congress leader, has suffered a huge setback. The Supreme Court ordered one year of rigorous imprisonment in prison for road rage in 1988. The Supreme Court case was still pending before the Punjab Assembly elections. After a final attempt to buy time to surrender failed, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu surrendered to Patiala chief judicial magistrate on Friday, who began the process of sending him to jail.
In fact, on May 15, 2018, the Supreme Court fined Navjot Sidhu Rs 1,000 in this case. The verdict of the High Court was overruled by the Supreme Court. The High Court condemned Sidhu to three years in prison. However, in May 2018, the victims filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, which the court approved. The Supreme Court issued a significant judgement on Thursday after hearing this petition. In this context, let’s get to the bottom of this.
The road rage:
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Sidhu and his companion Rupinder Singh Sandhu arrived at the Sherawale Gate market in Patiala on the evening of December 27, 1988. This location is 1.5 kilometres from his home. At the time, Sidhu was a cricketer. His international career had just begun. He got into a dispute with Gurnam Singh, 65, over parking in the same market. The situation escalated into a brawl. Gurnam Singh was knocked by Sidhu. Gurnam Singh was then rushed to the hospital, where he died. Reports, however, said that Gurnam Singh died of a heart attack.
Timeline so far:
- A complaint of culpable homicide was filed against Sidhu and his buddy Rupinder at the Kotwali police station in Patiala on the evening of December 27, 1988.
- The Sessions Court dismissed the case in 1999 while providing relief to Sidhu.
- The Punjab government took Sidhu to the Punjab-Haryana High Court in 2002.
- On December 1, 2006, the High Court found Sidhu and Sandhu guilty and sentenced them to three years in prison and a fine of Rs one lakh.
- Sidhu was arrested and sentenced to prison on January 11, 2007.
- The Supreme Court delayed the High Court’s judgment on January 12, 2007. Sidhu and his friend were released on bail. The complainant, on the other hand, sought refuge in the Supreme Court.
- On May 15, 2018, the Supreme Court acquitted Sidhu of the charge of culpable homicide but issued a fine of Rs 1,000 for injuring Gurnam Singh.
- The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition for review on September 12, 2018.