Sidhu to face trial in 2009 poll-related case

NEW DELHI: Former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu will have to face trial for allegedly spending excess on media advertisements and facilitatingtransferof agovernmentofficer who helped him win the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from Amritsar, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday.

A bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi, however, absolved Sidhu of the charges of excess spending for various public meetings.

Though Sidhu’s term as the Lok Sabha MP is over, the former cricketer will still have to face the trial that will just be an academic exercise.

Sidhu will stand trial before the Punjab and Haryana HC that took cognizance of an election petition filed by defeated Congress candidate Om Prakash Soni. The former lawmaker had challenged the HC order on the ground that Soni had failed to submit adequate material to support the charges.

Soni had accused Sidhu of incurring over ₹32 lakh on media advertisements, which was in excess of the prescribed limit of ₹25 lakh. Sidhu, on his part, said he spent ₹17 lakh on the same.

SC rejected the cricketer’s contention and said Soni had adduced adequate material before the court. The defeated candidate had submitted particulars of the newspapers in which the advertisements appeared, along with their cost.

However, the top court rejected Soni’s contention that Sidhu furnished misleading details of the expenditure he incurred for public meetings held on different dates in venues during the campaign.

During trial, Sidhu will also have to defend the charges of influencing the transfer of Jagjit Singh Suchu, a Punjab State Electricity Board officer, for his benefit.