The cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu will soon be behind bars with the Supreme Court enhancing his punishment in a 34-years-old case sentencing him to “rigorous imprisonment” for one year. A senior Congress leader, who has been convicted in the 1988 road rage case for culpable homicide, is expected to be lodged in the Patiala central jail.
Till the filing of the report, there is no clarity whether Sidhu would surrender or he will be arrested. It has been informed that a copy of the judgment passed by the Supreme Court in the matter will be sent to the Sessions Judge, Patiala, who will then decide whether to ask Sidhu to surrender in the court or issue an order to the Patiala police to arrest him.
At the time of filing the report, the copy of the order was yet to be received by the Supreme Court. However, it is expected that the copy of the judgment will soon be sent to the Patiala Sessions Judge, following which the further action will be initiated.
Notably, the bench of Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul allowed the plea filed by the kin of Gurnam Singh, who lost his life in the 1988 incident, seeking review of the apex court’s 2018 order by which it had let him off with just a fine of Rs 1000.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court had convicted Sidhu of culpable homicide and sentenced him to a three-year jail term. On May 15, 2018, an SC bench of Justices J Chelameswar and Kaul, however, set this aside and instead held Navjot Singh Sidhu guilty of the offence under section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and imposed only the fine.
The SC said that Sidhu “cannot be held responsible for causing the death of Gurnam Singh. Therefore, the judgment under appeal is required to be set aside and is accordingly set aside”.
Seeking review of this, the family of the victim said that there was an “error apparent on the face of the record” in the judgement holding him guilty only for causing hurt.
The Supreme Court on Thursday imposed a one-year jail term on the cricketer-turned-politician, saying any “undue sympathy” to issue an inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice system and undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law
At the same time, the State Government has ruled out any “special arrangements" or “special treatment” to the Congress leader inside the prison. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led State Government made it clear that “no special status” will be accorded to Sidhu.
“Navjot Singh Sidhu is also an inmate now and he will be like any other inmate in Patiala jail,” said the state Jails Minister Harjot Singh Bains, adding that AAP Government was against according VIP status to prisoners.
Interestingly, Sidhu’s arch-rival and SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia is currently lodging at Patiala Central jail in a drugs matter. Sidhu had all along been seeking action against Majithia for his alleged involvement in drugs matter. It is believed that when Sidhu was Punjab unit president of the ruling Congress party, he pressurised the government to register against Majithia.