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Navjot Sidhu is
rage killer, says court
Gets 3-yr jail; Has high morals, says Badal
 CHANDIGARH:
Navjot Singh Sidhu, one of BJP’s Parliamentarians
never known for his legislative skills, earlier known
for his cricket, and currently known for
non-stop laughing in jokes-interspersed-with-some-morejokes TV
program will now also be known as the man who killed another human
being in a fit of road rage. The Punjab and Haryana High Court found
Sidhu and his aide Rupinder Sandhu guilty in the 1988 road rage
case in Patiala that resulted in the death of 50-year-old Gurnam
Singh. On Wednesday, the HC sentenced Sidhu to a three-year jail
term and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh to be paid to the victim’s
widow.
The
sentence was held in abeyance till Jan 31 to enable Sidhu to file an
appeal. Sidhu was earlier let off by a lower court but that order
was set aside. Minutes after his conviction, Sidhu ran to claim the
high moral ground by resigning from the Lok Sabha, but the Akali
Dal-BJP alliance clearly knew that the ground had slipped from
underneath him, and them. The incensed duo of Sidhu and Sandhu had
beaten up Gurnam Singh following a brawl over a road incident.
Gurnam Singh had a heart attack almost immediately and died by the
time he was taken to hospital. The prosecution had argued that
Gurnam Singh died from blows rained after an argument over the
deceased’s attempt to overtake Sidhu’s car. Apparently, Sidhu and
Sandhu hit Singh after dragging him out of the car. They ran away
with the car keys and the victim had to be rushed to the hospital in
a cycle rickshaw.
The
duo were convicted under Section 304 (2) of IPC — culpable homicide
not amounting to murder. Close on the heels of Shibu Soren, Sidhu
became the second sitting MP in this Lok Sabha to be convicted in a
case where someone had lost his life. Worse, Sidhu’s conviction came
exactly when the BJP was trying to take the high moral ground by
showcasing the Shibu Soren episode.
6 December 2006
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