Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was convicted in a 1988 road rage case, is likely to walk out of the Patiala jail on Saturday. A tweet posted from Sidhu's Twitter handle said, "This is to inform everyone that Sardar Navjot Singh Sidhu will be released from Patiala Jail tomorrow. (As informed by the concerned authorities)."

Earlier, Sidhu's name was listed for release on January 26 – Republic Day, News 18 reported.

ALSO READ | Navjot Singh Sidhu loses 34 kg within 6 months of being jailed: Here's how he did it

Sidhu is serving one-year prison sentence at the Patiala Central jail for a 1988 death case in a road rage incident. In May 2022, the Supreme Court sentenced the former Punjab Congress chief to a year in jail in a three-decade-old road rage case.

The court had in its order said any sympathy in imposing an inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice system and undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law.

In 1988, Sidhu was accused in a road rage case in which 65-year-old man Gurnam Singh from Patiala had died.

According to the prosecution in the case, Sidhu and his aide Rupinder Singh Sandhu were in a Gypsy parked in the middle of a road near the Sheranwala Gate Crossing in Patiala on December 27, 1988, when the victim and two others were on their way to the bank to withdraw money.

When they reached the crossing, it was alleged, that Gurnam Singh, driving a Maruti car, found the Gypsy in the middle of the road and asked Sidhu and Sandhu to remove it. This led to heated exchanges between the two parties. According to reports, Sidhu allegedly thrashed and hit Gurnam Singh on his head which later led to his death.

Sidhu was acquitted of murder charges by the Sessions Court of Patiala in September 1999. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court reversed the verdict and held Sidhu and Sandhu guilty under section 304 (II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC in December 2006.

It had sentenced them to three years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on them. Sidhu then challenged the high court’s order in the Supreme Court.

First Published:Mar 31, 2023 2:45 PM IST