The Supreme Court has announced a one-year rigourous sentence for cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu in a road rage case. The court has also allowed the victim's family to file a review plea on the issue of sentencing in the 1988 Navjot Singh Sidhu road rage case. A bench of justices AM Khanwilkar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul had reserved the order in the case.
What's the Navjot Singh Sidhu road rage case about?
Navjot Singh Sidhu, when he was an active international cricketer, had allegedly thrashed 65-year-old Gurnam Singh after an altercation on the road. The incident took place on December 27, 1988. According to reports, he had hit him on his head which later led to his death.
The case had dragged on for over 33 years, from sessions court to the Supreme Court. The sessions court of Patiala, on September 22, 1999, acquitted Navjot Singh Sidhu citing lack of evidence and giving the benefit of the doubt.
The victim's family, however, pursued the case to higher courts. In 2007, Sidhu was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He then challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court.
In 2018, Sidhu was convicted of causing voluntary hurt but was acquitted on the culpable homicide charges. The Supreme Court let him off with a fine of Rs 1,000.
Later, the victim's family filed a review plea against the quantum of sentence. Sidhu had opposed the plea seeking to enlarge the scope of the case citing earlier order of the apex court which held there was no evidence that the death of the victim was caused by a single blow.
Sidhu had urged the court not to revisit his sentencing as he had had an impeccable sporting and political career. But the court allowed the review.
Sidhu had called the incident "an accident, nothing else".
After his 2018 sentencing, Sidhu had said: "A life was lost and everybody will regret it. But the court says it was an accident. I have submitted to the majesty of the law and whatever the court says I abide by it."
