Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, convicted in a case of culpable homicide, on Thursday surrendered before a local court.
Updated at 11.20 pm
CHANDIGARH: Former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu was sentenced to 14 days’ judicial remand after he submitted to the court of chief judicial magistrate on Thursday.
The surprise development came about after Sidhu decided to surrender to the court a day before his special leave petition is slated to come up for hearing in the Supreme Court.
Sidhu’s counsel SP Jain said technically it was essential for the former cricketer to surrender to the court to ensure that the SLP, which would come for hearing in the apex court on January 12, was admitted.
Sidhu was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment after being convicted for culpable homicide by the Punjab and Haryana High Court last month. Besides imprisonment, the court fined him Rs one lakh for causing death of a 65 years old man, Gurnam Singh, in Patiala in 1988.
The court had, however, granted him reprieve as it stalled his imprisonment till January 31 to allow him one month’s time to go for an appeal in the Supreme Court.
Before surrendering to the CJM, Sidhu earlier submitted himself to the division bench of the high court. Justice MS Gill, heading the bench, however, asked him to go to the CJM, where he had furnished the bail bond.
The CJM turned down Sidhu’s plea to send him to the Burail jail in Chandigarh and instead directed him to go to the central jail in Patiala, where the crime had taken place.
Even after being sentenced to jail Sidhu much in his characteristic manner recited Urdu couplets reflecting his courage in the moments of adversity. His imprisonment is likely to provide political fodder to the rival Congress party to target the Akali Dal-BJP alliance in the run-up to the Assembly elections.
Sidhu had been a star campaigner for the alliance even as his wife is tipped to contest the Amritsar Lok Sabha sat vacated by him as a BJP nominee.
In the past Sidhu had been finding unstinted support not only from the senior BJP leaders like Arun Jaitley, but also from the Akalis like Parkash Singh Badal and others.
Sidhu was convicted under section 304 (B) IPC for causing death of Gurnam Singh by assaulting him publicly after a dispute on the parking slot..
Pronouncing the punishment the Division Bench l said Rs 90,000 of the Rs one lakh fine to be recovered from Sidhu would be handed over to the kins of Gurnam Singh.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}