Navjot Singh Sidhu to surrender before Patiala court day after SC awards one-year jail in 1988 road-rage case

Navjot Singh Sidhu, the former Punjab Congress chief, will surrender before a Patiala court a day after the Supreme Court awarded him one-year jail in a 1988 road-rage case. Sidhu is also likely to file a review petition in the top court.

The Supreme Court had on Thursday had sentenced Sidhu to one-year rigorous imprisonment in a 1988 road-rage case, saying any undue sympathy to impose an inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice system and undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law. The court enhanced the sentence of Sidhu to one-year rigorous imprisonment in the road rage incident in which a 65-year-old man had died.

Congress leaders reach Patiala 

Meanwhile, a few Congress leaders and supporters turned up at Sidhu’s residence in Patiala in the morning. Former Congress legislator Surjit Singh Dhiman was among those to reach his residence.

Patiala District Congress Committee president Narinder Pal Lali, in a message to party supporters on Thursday night, had said that Sidhu would reach the court at 10 am. He urged the party supporters to reach the court complex around 9:30 am. The cricketer-turned politician’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu had reached the Patiala residence on Thursday night.

Sidhu, 58, had taken to Twitter on Thursday to say he “will submit to the majesty of the law”. 

What happened in 2018

Earlier in 2018, the apex court had held Sidhu guilty of the offence of “voluntarily causing hurt” to the 65-year-old man in the case and spared him a jail term and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000.

“We feel there is an error apparent on the face of record… Therefore, we have allowed the review application on the issue of sentence. In addition to the fine imposed, we consider it appropriate to impose a sentence of imprisonment for a period of one year,” the bench said while pronouncing the verdict on Thursday. 

The family of Gurnam Singh, who died in the 1988 incident, said they finally got justice after 34 years. “We are grateful to God. We have finally got justice after 34 years,” Gurnam Singh’s son Narvedinder Singh said.

READ MORE: Amarinder Singh’s party trolls Navjot Singh Sidhu after road rage verdict: ‘Thoko Tali’

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