Soon after the Supreme Court imposed a one-year jail term on him in a 1988 road rage case, former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu said he would ‘submit to the majesty of law’. Sidhu was in Patiala – riding an elephant as part of a protest against inflation. “Will submit to the majesty of law…,” he tweeted.
A bench of justices AM Khanwilkar and SK Kaul on Thursday allowed the review plea filed by victim Gurnam Singh’s family on the issue of the sentence awarded to Sidhu. Though the court in May 2018 held Sidhu guilty of the offence of ‘voluntarily causing hurt’ to a 65-year-old man, it spared him a jail term and imposed a fine of ₹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 Thursday while pronouncing the verdict.
December 27, 1988: Cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu and his friend Rupinder Singh Sandhu allegedly parked their Maruti Gypsy in the middle of the road near Sheranwala Gate crossing in Patiala. When Gurnam Singh, 65, reached the spot in a car, he asked them to move aside. In a fit of rage, Sidhu beat up Gurnam and removed his car keys before fleeing so that he couldn’t get medical help. Friends took Gurnam to the local Rajindra Hospital in a rickshaw. Gurnam was declared brought dead. Sidhu and Sandhu were booked.
September 22, 1999: The Patiala sessions court acquitted Sidhu and his friend for want of evidence, giving them the benefit of doubt. Gurnam’s family filed an appeal against the decision in the Punjab and Haryana high court.
April 2004: Cricketer Sidhu joined the BJP and became the Amritsar MP.
December 6, 2006: The high court held both Sidhu and Sandhu guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and awarded them three years’ rigorous imprisonment besides a fine of ₹1 lakh each on both. Sidhu, who was the MP from Amritsar Lok Sabha seat, had to resign after being convicted.
January 23, 2007: A Supreme Court bench headed by justice GP Mathur suspended the conviction and sentence. BJP leader Arun Jaitley appeared on behalf of Sidhu, who was re-elected as the Amritsar MP.
March 16, 2017: Sidhu became a minister in the Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in Punjab in 2016. However, during the hearing in the Supreme Court, the Punjab government opposed Sidhu and defended his high court conviction. While Sidhu was a minister, Sandhu was the officer on special duty (OSD) with him in the Punjab government.
May 15, 2018: The Supreme Court set aside the lower court order and acquitted Sidhu of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. However, it convicted Sidhu under Section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and imposed a fine of ₹1,000 without any jail.
September 13, 2018: The Supreme Court admits a review petition filed by the aggrieved family on the quantum of sentence.