Navjot Sidhu seeks more time to surrender in road rage case citing health, gets no relief
Ex-Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu has sought more time to surrender on medical grounds after he was granted a one-year jail term by the Supreme Court in the 1988 road rage case. The Supreme Court, however, refused to entertain Navjot Singh Sidhu’s plea.
Navjot Singh Sidhu was supposed to surrender before a Patiala court today but he asked for more time to undergo the sentence imposed on him in a 1988 road rage case, citing his health. The court, in response, asked him to mention the matter before the Chief Justice of India.
Senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing for Navjot Sidhu, requested to mention the matter before the Supreme Court but the court declined permission. The Supreme Court asked Sidhu to give a letter, requesting more time to surrender to the registry. “Can’t mention like this,” the court said.
The Supreme Court had earlier allowed the review of its May 2018 order exonerating former Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu in the 34-year-old road rage case, in which Patiala resident Gurnam Singh had died.
Sidhu will be taken into custody by Punjab police as per the order. Sidhu was earlier let off with a fine of Rs 1,000. Now, the maximum possible punishment under Section 323 of the IPC has been awarded to Sidhu.
On May 15, 2018, the apex court 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.
WHAT HAPPENED IN 1988
The case relates to the death of a man, Patiala resident Gurnam Singh, in December 1988 after Sidhu and a friend assaulted him in a road rage incident.
On December 27, 1988, Sidhu and Rupinder Singh Sandhu allegedly parked their Gypsy 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.
The case was taken up by the Supreme Court in March this year but it reserved its verdict on the review petition. On Thursday, the Supreme Court awarded Sidhu one-year rigorous imprisonment.