Navjot Singh Sidhu Surrenders Before Patiala Court In 1988 Road Rage Case

The top court had on Thursday imposed a sentence of one-year rigorous imprisonment on Sidhu in a road rage case.

Congress Leader Navjot Singh Sidhu. (File Photo/ PTI)

Chandigarh: Cricketer-turned-politician and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has proceeded to surrender before a court in Patiala a day after Supreme Court awarded him a one-year rigorous imprisonment in a 1988 road rage case. This come hours after the former Punjab Congress chief approached the apex court seeking a few weeks' time to surrender stating that he wanted to "organise his medical affairs".

The top court had on Thursday imposed a sentence of one-year rigorous imprisonment on Sidhu in the case, saying any "undue sympathy" to impose an inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice system and undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law.

The Supreme Court held Sidhu guilty of the offence of "voluntarily causing hurt" to a 65-year-old man, resulting in his death. 

Various Congress leaders and supporters of Sidhu turned up at his residence earlier in the day. Meanwhile, Sidhu's wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu had also reached the Patiala residence on Thursday night.

A former legislator from Amritsar (East) and a three-time Amritsar MP had taken to Twitter to say he "will submit to the majesty of the law" as he rode an elephant in Patiala earlier in the day to register a symbolic protest against rising prices of essential commodities.

The apex court on Thursday overturned its 2018 judgment, which had reduced the punishment for Sidhu in the case, after a review petition was filed by the family of Gurnam Singh, who had died in the incident.

SC had held Sidhu guilty of the offence of "voluntarily causing hurt" to the 65-year-old man in the case, it spared him a jail term and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000.

"We feel there is an error apparent on the face of record... Therefore, we have allowed the review application on the issue of sentence. In addition to the fine imposed, we consider it appropriate to impose a sentence of imprisonment for a period of one year," the top court said while pronouncing the verdict.

Meanwhile, the family of Gurnam Singh, who died in the 1988 incident, said they finally got justice after 34 years. "We are grateful to God. We have finally got justice after 34 years," Gurnam Singh's son Narvedinder Singh said.