Trouble for Sidhu may seem to have mushroomed as Supreme Court is going to deliver the verdict on the review petition on the 1988 road rage case today.
The 34-year-old case is related to a fight between Navjot Singh Sidhu and his friend over parking in Patiala. In this fight, a 65-year-old man died.
Sidhu was acquitted by Sessions Court Judge of Patiala on September 22, 1999, due to lack of evidence. But the victim’s family challenged the lower court order before the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2006. As a result, Sidhu was convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment.
Then he moves to the Supreme Court where the court dismissed the charge of culpable homicide.
Though Sidhu was convicted under Section 323 IPC i.e. causing hurt. Even he was not sentenced for this. He was released after paying only a RS 1000 fine.
Showing dissatisfaction with the apex court’s decision, the victim’s family has filed a review petition and demands that Sidhu should be punished under 304IPC.
Who is Sidhu?
A cricketer turned politician, Sidhu, won his first election in 2004 from Amritsar on the BJP ticket. In 2006 he resigned after being convicted in this case. Again in 2007, he won the by-election. In 2009, he won from Amritsar for the third time. He was sent to Rajyasabha in 2016 but he left. In 2017, he joined Congress and become MLA from Amritsar East and became Minister of local government. In 2021, he became Congress PPCC chief.