Chandigarh: Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who has been in Punjab’s Patiala jail since May 20, 2022, after the Supreme Court convicted him in the 1988 road rage case imposing a one-year jail term, is likely to be released on Saturday (April 1, 2023).
While Sidhu’s scheduled release from the jail is on May 16, 2023, he is likely to get a 45-day remission, hence his release on Saturday. The information about his release came from his Twitter handle as well as his counsel H P S Verma, some of the jail officials, who did not want to be named, said Sidhu was likely to be prematurely released for his good conduct.
Remission rules
They said that as per the Punjab prison rules, a convict, who serves a duty in the prison and maintains good conduct, gets a remission of five days every month he spends inside the prison.
On March 31, 2023, Sidhu would be, thus, entitled to a remission of 45 days which would pave the way for his early release, the jail officials said and added that since Sidhu had also remained in the jail for three days in 2007, he was eligible for release on April 1, 2023. He was working as a clerk in the jail department and he was thus entitled to relief of five days every month, the officials said and added that the department was bound by the Punjab prison rules.
It may be recalled that earlier also, even though the file pertaining to Sidhu’s early release, besides about 50 other prisoners who were eligible for release under ``Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’’ scheme, was moved in January this year by the jail department, the same was reportedly denied by the then state government.
Meanwhile, Sidhu’s release is set to change the political equations and dynamics in the state party unit. Considered to be close to the Congress high command, Sidhu is said to have had differences with former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh – now in BJP -, states party chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, besides others.
However, he has a following in the party and has been supported by several senior leaders who have been vocal for the party 'revival' after the party's debacle in the 2022 polls.
Sidhu's wife posted a heartfelt note earlier in the morning
Navjot Singh Sidhu's wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu today posted a heartfelt message a day before her husband's likely release from jail. She said out of anger she asked for death from God, but God left her in between.
"Affirmations are true: made by a sound mind or out of your senses. Navjot’s love for Punjab had driven him beyond the realm of any attachment. In a fit of anger, to teach him a lesson I asked for death. God’s grace was waiting but with a rider," tweeted Navjot Kaur Sidhu.
"I will give you what you have asked for but not against the will of Supreme Consciousness. So HE left me in between. Each person’s destiny and journey is different. We have no right to question it. The only person who needs correction is our own self. HIS WORLD: HIS LAWS," she added.
Punjab Congress Chief earlier urged for Sidhu's early release
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring last month urged upon the chief minister Bhagwant Mann for early release of senior party leader Navjot Singh Sidhu who is currently serving a year-long sentence in Central Jail, Patiala, in a road rage death case.
Warring’s appeal comes a day after the state Cabinet gave its nod to a proposal of granting special remission to five jailed convicts though Sidhu’s name was not among them, despite strong speculations about his early release.
When AAP was slammed for not releasing Sidhu
It may be recalled that the speculations about an early release of Sidhu were so strong on the occasion of Republic Day that his supporters had erected hoardings and banners in some cities of the state welcoming him. However, when he was not released on the occasion, chief minister Bhagwant Mann-led state Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had come under heavy fire from the several Congress leaders.
About Sidhu's imprisonment
Cricketer-turned-TV personality and politician Navjot Singh Sidhu was sentenced to one year of rigorous imprisonment by the Supreme Court in a 34-year-old road rage case in which a person had died.
The family of the deceased had asked for a review of a 2018 order of the Supreme Court acquitting Sidhu of murder charges and imposing Rs 1,000 fine on him.
About the incident
The deceased, Gurnam Singh, while driving his Maruti car, did not give the right of way because of which a livid Navjot Sidhu stepped out of his vehicle, pulled out the deceased from his car and inflicted fist blows; even the car keys of the deceased were removed by Navjot before fleeing from the scene with an accomplice. Gurnam was taken to hospital in a rickshaw where the doctors declared him as dead.
The trial court acquitted both Sidhu and his accomplice, noting that the death was not caused by subdural haemorrhage but because of the sudden cardiac arrest.
The state government and the complainant moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court through separate appeal. The High Court convicted Sidhu in 2006 of culpable homicide and sentenced him to three years in jail.
The Supreme Court, however, overturned the HC ruling and asked Sidhu to cough up a fine of Rs 1,000, "since the incident was 30 years old at the time, there was no enmity between parties and no weapon was used."
It also took into account that Sidhu was an international cricketer and a celebrity at the time of the incident.
