19 May, 2022: Anshu Srivastava
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Navjot Sidhu was sentenced to one-year prison by the Supreme Court of India on Thursday, which was reviewing a case involving the former Indian batsmen back in 1988, in which one Gurnam Singh died.
A two-judge bench, comprising justices AM Khanwilkar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, was reviewing its own order from 2018, and reduced Sidhu’s sentence from three years’ imprisonment to one, and a ₹1,000 fine.
It is said that even if there is a delay in getting justice at the door of the law, it’s not denied. Congress leader Sidhu was convicted in the 34-year-old case on Thursday (May 19, 2022).
In the 1988 road accident case, Sidhu was initially released with a small fine, but the hearing of the case was started once more on the basis of a complaint by the family of Gurnam Singh. Sidhu was sentenced to one-year, rigorous imprisonment by the apex court in the case.
It has been alleged that on December 27, 1988, Sidhu had parked a gypsy car in the middle of a road near Sheranwala gate crossing in Patiala. At that point, two persons including the deceased were visiting a bank in front to withdraw money.
The man, Gurnam Singh, asked Sidhu to move his car. But, Sidhu and Rupinder Singh Sandhu refused. The conversation between them turned into a fight.
It was alleged that Singh was hit on the head by Sidhu during the fight. The person later died. A murder charge was filed against Sidhu at the time. In 1999, a Patiala court acquitted him of the murder charges for lack of proper evidence.
He was later charged with intentionally causing hurt rather than a murder case. But in 2006, when the accused’s family approached the Supreme Court, Sidhu was convicted. He was sentenced to three years in jail and a fine of ₹1 lakh.
Sidhu challenged the choice and appealed to the SC. After a trial of 34 long years, he was convicted and charged by the SC today.