Will Navjot Singh Sidhu be jailed? Supreme Court re-opens road rage case

In a major setback for cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, the Supreme Court on Wednesday decided to review the previous order in a 1988 road rage case against him. The top court will take a decision on whether Sidhu should be sent to jail or not.

Accepting a review petition in this regard, the apex court has issued a notice to the Congress leader and sought his response on the issue. The notice was issued by a bench comprising Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul.

In May, Sidhu was found guilty of voluntarily causing hurt in the 1988 road rage case. The Congress leader was, however, spared the jail term with the top court acquitting him 'for culpable homicide not amounting to murder'.

Sidhu was acquitted under section 304 (II) - culpable homicide not amounting to murder - and convicted under section 323 - punishment for voluntarily causing hurt - in 1998 road rage case by Supreme Court.

The road rage incident dates back to December 27, 1988, when Sidhu had allegedly punched 65-year-old Gurnam Singh in Patiala resulting in the latter`s death. The Sessions Court Judge of Patiala on September 22, 1999, had acquitted Sidhu and his associate, Rupinder Singh Sandhu, due to lack of evidence in the case.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court later reversed his acquittal, convicting him under Section 304 Part II, Indian Penal Code (IPC), for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

The victim's family had appealed to the Supreme Court that earlier imprisonment sentence of three years given by the Punjab and Haryana High Court should be enhanced. However, the Punjab government had appealed to the top court to uphold three-year imprisonment.