Hours after the Supreme Court verdict, Punjab cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu described the 1988 road rage case as “an accident, nothing else” and said he has been a survivor all his life.

Sidhu thanked God for helping him during the “trying times” and expressed gratitude to people for their blessings.

“Well, it was an accident, nothing else,” Sidhu told reporters.

Asked whether he regretted the episode, Sidhu said: “A life was lost and everybody will regret it. But the court says it was an accident. I have submitted to the majesty of the law and whatever the court says I abide by it."

The minister said he was not nervous ahead of the verdict in the 30-year-old case. “I got up at 3 am... I meditated. I played with my dogs for almost an hour,” he said.

“You will never see me cribbing and pointing fingers at others. I am strong enough to carry my burden on my own shoulder. The Almighty has always helped him tide over difficult circumstances. It is the grace of God which has helped me through trying times. I have been a survivor all my life. It is the grace of God which always prevails and bails me through. Every adversity has made me bigger and hence my reputation. From the age of 7 till 53, there has been no defeat,” he said. Asserting that he had no hard feelings against anybody, Sidhu said, “I forgive those who criticised me, who condemned me and made political capital out of this case.”

Sidhu said he would meet Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi to thank them for supporting him. “I have sent messages to Rahul ji and Priyanka ji. I have stated that my life is yours. The CM sahib also called me up and I told him, till my last breath, I am committed to the welfare of Punjab,” Sidhu said.                     —FC