Road rage case: Supreme Court to hear review petition against Navjot Singh Sidhu

The Supreme Court will hear a petition on Thursday to review the sentence granted to the Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu in a 1988 road rage case in which a senior citizen was killed. Sidhu was let off with a fine of Rs 1000 in 2018. 

This comes just weeks ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections, in which the cricketer-turned-politician is contesting from Amritsar East constituency. The review petition is likely to be heard by a special bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul.

As per media reports, Sidhu, along with his aide, Rupinder Singh Sandhu, was in a Gypsy parked in the middle of the road near the Sheranwala Gate Crossing in Patiala on December 27, 1988. A 65-year-old Gurman Singh, along with two others, was walking on their way towards the bank. It is alleged that Gurman Singh asked the two men to remove their parked Gypsy from the crossing, which led to an argument between them. Reports claim that Singh died after being beaten up by Sidhu. However, the Congress leader claims Singh died of a cardiac arrest.

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Sidhu was initially charged with murder, but the trial court acquitted him. Later, the case was heard by the Punjab and Haryana high court, which overturned the judgment and found the duo guilty of culpable homicide, and sentenced them to three years imprisonment.

On May 15, 2018, Supreme Court reversed the high court's judgment but found Sidhu guilty of the minor offence of causing harm to a 65-year-old man under Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Under Section 323 of the IPC (voluntarily causing hurt), the maximum penalty is a year in prison or a Rs 1,000 fine, which he was asked to pay. Meanwhile, Sandhu was acquitted of all charges due to a lack of 'trustworthy evidence regarding his presence.'

The apex court also added the medical evidence was 'absolutely uncertain' about the cause of the death of victim Gurnam Singh. Later that year, Singh's family approached the court and filed a petition requesting the court to review its verdict, which it agreed to hear. 

Also Read: Navjot Sidhu's 'sister' Suman Toor: 'How will someone who disowned his family see the state as his own?'

Supreme Court's May 2018 judgement had come on the plea filed by Sidhu and Sandhu challenging the high court's 2006 verdict convicting them.

However, the result of the review petition is unlikely to have an impact on Sidhu's political career because, under the Representation of the People Act, only a prison sentence of two years or more can result in the disqualification of a sitting MP or MLA.

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• Assembly election 2022
• Congress
• Navjot Singh Sidhu
• Punjab election 2022
• Rupinder Singh Sandhu