1988 road rage death case: Supreme Court to deliver judgment tomorrow on review petition against Navjot Singh Sidhu

The Supreme Court on Thursday will be delivering judgment on the review petition in a three-decade-old road rage case against Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu. Sidhu was then let off with a fine of Rs 1,000.

The petition was filed by the victim's family and demanded the former Punjab Congress chief be charged with a more serious offence.

On March 25, Lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Navjot Singh Sidhu, in the Supreme Court said, “This is an extraordinary case in a negative sense which ought not to be entertained by this court because it’s an abuse of process.”

“This is a 34-year-old incident from 1988. The courts see many cases for suspension of sentences, but this is a case where a detailed reasoned judgment of the Supreme Court is in place. A detailed reasoned order of suspension of conviction by the Supreme Court is a rarity,” Singhvi told the top court.

For the unversed, Sidhu and his friend Rupinder Singh Sandhu were initially tried for murder, but the trial court in September 1999 acquitted him. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court reversed the verdict and held them guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and gave him a three-year imprisonment.

But the Supreme Court had on May 15, 2018 acquitted him of the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder in connection with the 1988 road rage case in which one Gurnam Singh had died after allegedly being beaten up Sidhu and his friend Rupinder Singh Sandhu.