A few months back, the cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu was hoping to head Punjab. Today, he landed himself in the state’s Patiala Central Jail as a convict, out to serve his one-year sentence, in a three-decade-old case.
In a major turn of events, Sidhu’s political fortunes witnessed a major downfall in nearly past one year. Enjoying the support of several MLAs, he dethroned the then Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh in September last, hoping to occupy the top-post after the elections. As luck would have it, Sidhu was neither declared the party’s Chief Ministerial face, nor could he secure his Amritsar East seat in the February 20 elections that AAP swept with a thumping majority.
Post elections, he was asked to step down as Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president, and relegated to just being a Congress leader, when three-time MLA Amarinder Singh Raja Warring was picked up to replace him. Even as he tried to garner support within the party and build up ‘Team Sidhu’, the high command initiated disciplinary proceedings against him for “anti-party activities”.
And while the three-time MP and one-time MLA was struggling to stay politically-relevant, the Supreme Court’s verdict on Thursday sentencing him to one-year rigorous imprisonment in a 1988 road rage death case has put his political aspirations in a state of uncertainty as of now.
On Friday, Punjab Congress’ former president surrendered before the Patiala court, and was sent to serve the sentence in Paiala Central jail, where his arch rival and SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia is also lodged in a drug related matter.
“He surrendered before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Amit Malhan,” said senior advocate HPS Verma, who accompanied Sidhu to the court.
Sidhu surrendered shortly after 4 pm, and was taken for the mandatory medical examination, conducted at the Mata Kaushalya Hospital. After the medical check-up, he was lodged in the Patiala Central Jail.
Some party leaders including Navtej Singh Cheema, Ashwani Sekhri and Sidhu's supporters accompanied him from his home to the court, which is close to his residence. Cheema drove Sidhu, who was dressed in a blue-coloured 'pathani suit', to the court in an SUV.
This came just hours after the former Punjab Congress president approached the Supreme Court seeking a few weeks to surrender to serve the imprisonment saying that he needs some time to organise his medical issues.
The top court bench of justices AM Khanwilkar and JB Pardiwala told senior advocate and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Sidhu, that the judgment on one-year rigorous imprisonment was passed by a special bench, and that he can file the application and mention it before the Chief Justice.
As the issue was mentioned before the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, he refused to entertain an attempt by Singhvi to mention the case for an urgent sitting of the special bench.
Back in Patiala, some former MLAs, leaders, and supporters turned up at Sidhu’s residence in the morning to show their support, but no prominent Congress leader from the state unit was seen either at his home or at the court with him.
However, some of the Punjab Congress, including state president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, expressed their support to Sidhu on the social media.
Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu had reached their Patiala residence on Thursday night.
The SC had on Thursday sentenced Sidhu to one-year rigorous imprisonment in the case, saying any undue sympathy in imposing an inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice system and undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law.
A 65-year-old man, named Gurnam Singh, had died in the incident. When reporters sought Sidhu's reaction to the verdict on Thursday, he had declined to comment. However, he had later tweeted to say he "will submit to the majesty of the law".
Though the apex court had in May 2018 held Sidhu guilty of the offence of "voluntarily causing hurt" to the man, it had spared him a jail term and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000.
Gurnam Singh's family had sought a review of the judgement, which was allowed by the SC.
"We feel there is an error apparent on the face of record... Therefore, we have allowed the review application on the issue of the 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.
Sidhu, a former BJP MP, had switched over to the Congress ahead of the 2017 assembly polls. For months before the 2022 assembly polls in the state, Sidhu was engaged in a tussle with Amarinder Singh, who was then the chief minister of the state as a Congress leader.
The top Congress leadership forced capt Amarinder Singh out after Sidhu targeted him for months over the "unfulfilled" promises by his government, and the differences between them could not be settled. Sidhu was then made the party's state unit president.
Both Sidhu and Congress leader Sunil Jakhar, who recently quit the party and joined the BJP, appeared to have eyed the Chief Minister's post but the top leadership had picked Charanjit Singh Channi to replace Capt Amarinder.
Sidhu began his political innings in 2004, contesting the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket from Amritsar, where he shifted his base from Patiala. He defeated Congress heavyweight RL Bhatia.
The former cricketer's relationship with the Badal family soured even though the Shiromani Akali Dal was a BJP ally then. And then he had problems with the BJP after the party fielded Arun Jaitley from Amritsar in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Though he was accommodated in the Rajya Sabha later, the maverick politician quit the party to join the Congress.
AFTER PRIYANKA GANDHI’S CALL, PUNJAB CONG BACKS SIDHU
Hours before Sidhu surrendered in the Patiala local court on Friday, Congress’ senior leader Priyanka Gandhi on Friday gave a call to the former cricketer assuring him that the grand old party is with him. Soon after, the state Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Partap Singh Bajwa came out in Sidhu’s support on the social media platforms.
Warring, who succeeded Sidhu as the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president, said that he stands by the senior colleague and his family. “With due respect for the verdict of the Supreme Court, I stand by my senior colleague @sherryontopp Ji and his family at this difficult hour,” he tweeted. Bajwa also said that the Punjab Congress will stand firmly behind Sidhu and his family. “The INC bows before the verdict of the Supreme Court. Furthermore, the Punjab Congress and I will stand firmly behind @sherryontopp and his family in this difficult time,” he posted on Twitter.