Last Updated on October 4, 2022 by Administrator
Written by Shaurya Mahajan
Today, the Supreme Court enhanced the sentence of Navjot Singh Sidhu to one year imprisonment in a 1988 road rage accident in which one person by the name of Gurnam Singh had died.
The Court allowed had the review petition preferred by the family of victim Gurnam Singh against its 2018 Supreme Court verdict that had reduced the sentence of Navjot Singh Sidhu to Rs 1000 from 3 years imprisonment in the case.
A bench of Justices A. M. Khanwilkar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul pronounced the verdict. “W e have allowed review application on the issue of sentence. I
n addition to fine imposed, we impose a sentence of imprisonment of one year to be undergone by respondent 1(Sidhu)”, Justice Kaul read out the operative part of the judgment. Full copy of the order is awaited.
In May 2018, a division bench comprising Justice J Chelameshwar (since retired) and Justice SK Kaul had held that the offence of Sidhu will not amount to “culpable offence not amounting to murder” punishable under Section 304 Part II of the Indian Penal Code and instead found him guilty for the offence of “voluntarily causing hurt” under Section 323 IPC.
“The material on record leads us to the only possible conclusion that we can reach that the first accused voluntarily caused hurt to Gurnam Singh punishable under Section 323 IPC”, said Justice Chelameswar in the Judgment.
In 2006, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had convicted him under Section 304-II IPC and sentenced him to 3 years imprisonment. Challenging the 2018 verdict which reduced Sidhu’s punishment, the victim’s family filed review petitions.
The bench had reserved judgment on March 25 after hearing Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra for the review petitioners and Senior Advocate Dr AM Singhvi for Sidhu.
