New Delhi:
From Karnataka Election Results 2018 to Punjab Tourism Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu's conviction, it seems like Tuesday was a bad, not so good and a terrible day for the Congress.
While the party witnessed a defeat in Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018, the Supreme Court on Tuesday convicted Punjab Congress minister Navjot Singh Sindhu in the 1988 road rage case.
"Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu convicted under section 323 and acquitted under section 304( (II) in 1988 road rage case by Supreme Court," the news agency ANI reported.
The apex court, however, spared him jail term in the 30-year-old case, where Sidhu voluntarily caused hurt to 65-year-old Gurnam Singh.
A two-judge bench, comprising Justices J Chelameswar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul convicted Sidhu under Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of IPC and fined him Rs 1,000 for the offence.
"A1 (Sidhu) is guilty of Section 323 of IPC. Awarded no sentence but fine of Rs 1,000 for the offence. A2 (Rupinder Singh Sandhu) is acquitted," the bench concluded.
Navjot Singh Sidhu acquitted under section 304 (II){culpable homicide not amounting to murder} and convicted under section 323(punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) in 1988 road rage case by Supreme Court https://t.co/Y3BJsG4qJN
— ANI (@ANI) May 15, 2018
"I want to thank the people of Punjab, because of their prayers I have come out ten feet tall. I have sent a message to Rahul Gandhi ji & Priyanka Gandhi ji that my life is yours," ANI quoted the Congress minister soon after the Supreme Court acquitted Sindhu in the road rage case.
I want to thank the people of Punjab, because of their prayers I have come out ten feet tall. I have sent a message to Rahul Gandhi ji & Priyanka Gandhi ji that my life is yours: Navjot Singh Sidhu, Punjab Minister after being acquitted under Section 304 in road rage case. pic.twitter.com/ixwfQBY8Dn
— ANI (@ANI) May 15, 2018
Talking about Congress's defeat in Karnataka Elections, Sidhu said, "Rahul bhai is a leader in the ascent. 2019 will be a different ball game. The alliances are coming with him."
Earlier, in April, the Congress government in Punjab had urged the Supreme Court to uphold Sidhu's conviction in the 1998 case.
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The cricketer-turned-actor was granted bail by the SC after the Punjab and Haryana high court awarded him three years of imprisonment in the decade-old case.
On the other hand, the victim's family moved to the SC to enhance the three-year jail time given by the HC.
On December 27, 1988, the former cricketer allegedly hit Gurnam Singh, 65, after getting engaged into a spat with Gurman in Patiala. Singh was brought dead to a nearby hospital.
A trial court had acquitted Sidhu and his co-accused Rupinder Singh Sandhu in the 1998 road rage case.
However, the Punjab and Haryana high court found Sidhu guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and overturned the trial court's verdict.
A bench of Justices Mehtab Singh Gill and Baldev Singh also convicted Navjot's friend and co-accused Rupinder Singh but suspended their sentences during the pendency of their appeals in the apex court.
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In 2007, the Supreme Court suspended Sidhu's conviction and allowed him to contest elections.
