Pronouncing the verdict on Thursday, the Supreme Court said any undue sympathy to impose an inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice system and undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law. The apex court enhanced the sentence of Sidhu to one-year rigorous imprisonment in the road rage incident in which a 65-year-old man had died.
Navjot Singh Sidhu, the former Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief, on Friday sought a week’s time from Supreme Court to surrender after the apex court imposed a one-year jail term on him in the 1988 road rage case. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is representing Sidhu, sought a week’s time for his client to surrender citing some “medical conditions”.The Supreme Court has asked Singhvi to move a proper application and mention it before the CJI bench. Earlier, it was reported that the cricketer-turned-politician might surrender before a local court in Patiala on Friday after the Supreme Court’s verdict. Pronouncing the verdict on Thursday, the Supreme Court said any undue sympathy to impose an inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice system and undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law. The apex court enhanced the sentence of Sidhu to one-year rigorous imprisonment in the road rage incident in which a 65-year-old man had died.Though the apex court had in May 2018 held Sidhu guilty of the offence of “voluntarily causing hurt” to the 65-year-old man in the case, it spared him a jail term and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000. “…we feel there is an error apparent on the face of record…therefore, we have allowed the review application on the issue of sentence. In addition to the fine imposed, we consider it appropriate to impose a sentence of imprisonment for a period of one year…,” the bench said while pronouncing the verdict.The family of Gurnam Singh, who died in the incident, said they finally got justice after 34 years and thanked the Almighty. “We are thankful and grateful to God. We have finally got justice after 34 years,” Gurnam Singh’s son Narvedinder Singh said, adding, “We are satisfied with the verdict”.
Following the party’s drubbing in the five states that went to the polls earlier this year, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had asked the party chiefs there to resign. The Congress appointed Amrinder Singh Raja Warring in place of Sidhu after its drubbing in the Punjab assembly polls. Sidhu, a former BJP MP, had switched over to the Congress ahead of the 2017 assembly polls.
