Sidhu gets one year jail in 1988 road rage case
POLITICIAN WAS FINED JUST RS1,000 IN 2018 AFTER MAN HE ASSAULTED DIED
Indian cricketer-turnedpolitician Navjot Singh Sidhu was sentenced yesterday to one year in jail, nearly 35 years after he was accused of killing a man in a fit of rage.
The Supreme Court gave its latest ruling after the victim’s family appealed a 2018 verdict that saw the 58-year-old former Test opener walk away with a Rs1,000 ($13) fine.
A lower court initially sentenced Sidhu to three years in jail over the 1988 incident in which the batsman and one of his friends beat up a man in a parking lot. The victim later died in hospital but Sidhu was only convicted for the assault in 1999.
The apex court overturned that ruling in 2018, saying the case was over 30 years old and Sidhu had not used a weapon — choosing instead to impose a small fine. Following the decision, the victim’s family approached the court with a plea for a harsher sentence.
Review petition
On March 25, the court reserved the verdict on a review petition seeking a direction to enhance the sentence awarded to Sidhu in the road rage case.
Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, representing Sidhu, submitted before a bench headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar that sentence was a discretion of court and no interference could be done except in cases of death penalty and that there was no need to have a relook at the 2018 judgement.
The bench, also comprising Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, reserved the judgement after hearing detailed arguments in the matter. The plea was filed by the kin of the deceased, Gurnam Singh seeking a relook on the 2018 judgement.
Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, representing the victim’s family, submitted that the death due to cardiac arrest is not correct, and a blow was delivered on the victim. Singhvi vehemently argued that it was extremely doubtful that an injury, caused by a fist blow, could have led to the death.
Luthra argued that the 2018 judgement failed to consider the previous decision in the case of Richhpal Singh Meena vs Ghasi (2014). He added that, in this case, the top court was of the view that when there is death of a human being, it may either be culpable homicide (not amounting to murder) or not culpable homicide.
On December 27, 1988, Sidhu and Rupinder Singh Sandhu allegedly parked their fourwheel drive in the middle of the road near the Sheranwala Gate crossing in Patiala. When the 65-year-old Gurnam Singh reached the spot in a car, he asked them to move aside.
Sidhu then beat up Singh. He also allegedly removed Singh’s car keys before fleeing so he couldn’t get medical help.