SC to hear review plea in ’88 case on Feb 25
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Thursday said it would consider on February 25 the plea seeking review of the sentence awarded by it to cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu in an over 32-yearold road rage case.
The matter came up for hearing before a bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and S K Kaul which posted it for hearing on February 25 in view of the letter circulated by Sidhu’s counsel seeking adjournment.
Senior advocate P Chidambaram, appearing for Sidhu, requested the bench to list the matter for hearing after February 23. The bench said it would hear the matter on February 25.
Sidhu is presently the Punjab
Congress President and voting in the state assembly election is scheduled for February 20.
The apex court had on May 15, 2018, set aside the Punjab and Haryana High Court order convicting Sidhu of culpable homicide and awarding him a three-year jail term in the case, but had held him guilty of causing hurt to a senior citizen. Though the top court had held Sidhu guilty of the offence of “voluntarily causing hurt” to a 65-year-old man, it spared him of a jail term and imposed a fine of ₹1,000.
Section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code entails a maximum jail term of up to one year or with a fine which may extend to Rs 1,000 or both.
The top court had also acquitted Sidhu’s aide Rupinder Singh Sandhu of all charges saying there was no trustworthy evidence regarding his presence along with Sidhu at the time of the offence in December 1988.
Later in September 2018, the apex court had agreed to examine a review petition filed by the family members of the deceased and issued notice to Sidhu on it.
“Issue notice restricted to quantum of sentence qua respondent no. 1 – Navjot Singh Sidhu,” the court had said in its September 11, 2018 order.