NEW DELHI: Four months after the Supreme Court let off ex-cricketer
Navjot Singh Sidhu with a paltry Rs 1,000 fine in a 30-year-old case in which a person died, another SC bench on Wednesday agreed to re-examine the quantum of punishment to the Punjab Congress MLA.
Allowing a plea for reconsideration of the judgment that altered Sidhu’s conviction to Section 323 of the IPC from the stringent Section 304-II, as was recorded by the Punjab and
Haryana HC, a bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and
Sanjay Kishan Kaul said it would only reconsider the sufficiency of punishment given to him.
In its May 15 verdict, a bench of Justices J Chelameswar and Kaul had said Sidhu could not be held responsible for causing the death of one
Gurnam Singh, who died after allegedly being given fist blows by the Punjab legislator. Setting aside the HC decision to convict Sidhu under Section 304-II (
culpable homicide not amounting to murder), the SC had convicted him under Section 323 IPC, which provides for a maximum punishment of one year jail term, or fine up to Rs 1,000, or both.
Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice Chelameswar had said, “In the circumstances of the case having regard to the facts that (i) the incident is 30 years old; (ii) there is no past enmity between the accused and the deceased; (iii) no weapon was used by the accused; and (iv) the background in which it happened, we are of the opinion, a punishment of imposition of fine of Rs 1,000 would meet the ends of justice in this case.
“The net result of the above discussion is that the first accused cannot be held to be responsible for causing death of Gurnam Singh. Therefore, the judgment under appeal is... set aside. The material on record leads us to only possible conclusion... that the first accused voluntarily caused hurt to Gurnam Singh, punishable under Section 323 IPC.”
In 1988, Sidhu and his friend Rupinder had got into an argument with Gurnam over parking space. Sidhu and his friend allegedly dragged Gurnam out of his car and rained blows on him because of which he collapsed. Gurnam was taken to hospital where he was declared dead. The trial court acquitted the duo in 1999 but the HC convicted them and gave them three-year jail terms in 2006.
