1988 road rage case: Setting aside the high court verdict, a bench of justices J Chalameswar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul only imposed a fine on Navjot Singh Sidhu.
In a huge relief for Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, the Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed the Punjab and Haryana High Court verdict in the 1998 road rage case. Sidhu was acquitted of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and convicted for voluntarily causing hurt.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court had found Sidhu guilty and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment. Reversing the high court verdict, a bench of Supreme Court justices J Chalameswar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul only imposed a fine on the former cricketer. Rupinder Singh Sandhu, a co-accused in the case, was also acquitted.
Sidhu was earlier acquitted by a trial court in September 1999. However, it was reversed by a high court in December 2006 and held the two guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. They challenged this in the Supreme Court which stayed the conviction pending the appeal in 2007.
According to the prosecution, the duo who were in a Gypsy had an altercation with Gurnam Singh near the Sheranwala Gate Crossing on December 27, 1988 when the latter asked them to give way to their car. Police claimed that Singh was beaten up by Sidhu who later fled the crime scene. The victim was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead.