Renu Sharma

New Delhi, 25th February 2022: The hearing in the 1988 road rage case of Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu was held in the Supreme Court on Friday. In the matter, Sidhu requested for dismissal of the review petition filed in the matter.

Sidhu has said in response to the review petition that the petition is not maintainable and this incident happened 33 years ago. At the same time, the Supreme Court has sought a reply from Sidhu in the matter within two weeks.

The case dates back to December 27, 1988. Sidhu had run into an old man named Gurnam Singh while going by car in Patiala. An enraged Sidhu punched him, after which Gurnam Singh died. The Patiala police had registered a case of culpable homicide against Sidhu and his friend Rupinder Singh. The trial court had acquitted Sidhu in 1999 due to lack of evidence, but the aggrieved party reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In 2006, the High Court sentenced Sidhu to three years’ imprisonment. Sidhu challenged this decision in the Supreme Court.

Earlier, the hearing in this matter was held in the Supreme Court on 3 February. The Supreme Court adjourned the hearing of the matter till February 25. Sidhu was relieved by the postponement of the hearing during the election. The aggrieved party has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court seeking a fresh consideration of the decision. On September 11, 2018, the Supreme Court had issued notice to Sidhu to consider the limited issue of quantum of punishment on the review petition.