The Supreme Court today sentenced cricketer-turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu to one year of rigorous imprisonment in a 34-year-old road rage case.
The apex court announced its verdict on a petition moved by the family of a man who died after a brawl with Mr Sidhu and his friend at Patiala in 1988.
Will submit to the majesty of law ….
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) May 19, 2022
"Will submit to the majesty of law…," tweeted the 58-year-old former Punjab Congress chief.
The Supreme Court judgment, over three decades after the incident, comes as a massive setback to Sidhu.
The victim's family had filed a review petition against Mr Sidhu after he was exonerated in a 2018 judgment of the Supreme Court.
On December 27, 1988, Sidhu got into an argument with Gurnam Singh, over a parking spot. Mr Sidhu and his friend Rupinder Singh Sandhu, allegedly pulled Gurnam Singh out of his car and hit him. The 65-year-old died later.
Sidhu and his associate were acquitted in 1999 by a sessions court in Patiala which ruled that there was lack of evidence and gave them the benefit of doubt.
However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court set aside the verdict of the sessions court and convicted Sidhu in 2006 of culpable homicide and sentenced him to three years in jail in the case.
In 2018, Sidhu appealed to the Supreme Court, which struck down the High Court order saying there was no evidence to prove that the man had died of a single blow. However, the cricketer-politician was held guilty of causing hurt to the 65-year-old senior citizen and let off with a fine of Rs 1,000.
The Supreme Court also acquitted Sidhu's friend Rupinder Singh Sandhu of all charges saying proper evidence had not been furnished to prove that he was present on the occasion.
However, the family of the deceased, Gurnam Singh, filed a plea in the Supreme Court for a review of its judgment.
Sidhu had challenged the family's review petition on which the Supreme Court ruling was announced today.
