SC to hear road rage case involving Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday
Darpan News Desk IANS, 02 Feb, 2022 02:47 PM
New Delhi, Feb 2 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Thursday will hear a plea seeking review of its May 15, 2018 verdict, where it let off Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu with a mere Rs 1,000 fine in a 1988 road rage case in Punjab, where a Patiala resident had died.
A bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul will hear the plea of the family of victim, Gurnam Singh, seeking review of its order.
The top court had let off Sidhu saying there was no sufficient evidence to prove the harsher charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against him.
Sidhu was charged under section 323 of the Indian Penal Code for voluntary causing hurt, however he was let off with just fine. The top court had observed that the incident was more than 30 years old, and there was no past hostility between accused and victim. The court also noted that no weapon was used by the accused.
The top court had set aside the Punjab and Haryana High Court order, which convicted Sidhu of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and sentenced him to three-year jails. The top court noted that Sidhu was wrongly convicted, after examining all evidence, including medical records.
9 persons, including four farmers, were killed in the violence that had erupted during a farmers' protest in Lakhimpur Kheri. A bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and comprising justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli will hear the matter on Thursday. The matter has been listed as 'violence in Lakhimpur Kheri (UP) leading to loss of life'.
Canadian MP Tim S. Uppal said he was shocked to learn about the brazen attack on protesting farmers. Another Canadian MP Ruby Sahota said she was heartbroken to learn about the violence directed at protesting farmers.
The demand made by citizens primarily mirrored their right to clean air and the right to breathe, underlining the reality that Punjab is home to some of India's most polluted towns, including Mandi Gobindgarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Khanna, and Patiala.
The case was assigned to the division bench of Justices A.G. Masih and Ashok Kumar Verma. Earlier, the case was being heard by the bench of Justices Rajan Gupta and Ajay Tewari but the latter recused himself from hearing the case on September 1.
Furnishing details about the incident, Additional DCP-2 Nishant Gupta told IANS that they had received information about a firing incident in the northeast Delhi area on October 1.
The activists of Punjab Congress will walk towards Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh if Priyanka Gandhi is not released and the Union Minister's son accused of murder not arrested, said state party President Navjot Sidhu on Tuesday.
