In a major respite for the cricketer turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, India’s top court on Tuesday spared him the jail term and acquitted him of culpable homicide charge in a 30 year old road rage case.
He was, however, found guilty of voluntarily causing hurt and fined Rs 1,000 (AUD $20) for the offence.
The apex court also exonerated Mr Sidhu’s aide and co-accused in the case, Rupinder Singh Sandhu of all charges.
Today’s acquittal by the Supreme Court was a result of Mr Sidhu’s appeal against the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s verdict that was pronounced in 2006.
The incident dates back to December 27, 1988, when Mr Sidhu accompanied by Mr Sandhu had in a fit of anger punched 65-year-old Gurnam Singh on the head over a parking row in Patiala. Mr Singh later died in a hospital.
Back in 1999, a trial court had acquitted the duo of murder, but the verdict was reversed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court that had held them guilty of culpable homicide in 2006. The High Court had imposed a fine and also sentenced them to three years in jail.
The duo then filed an appeal in the Supreme Court which suspended their sentence in 2007 and granted them bail, enabling Mr Sidhu to contest assembly elections from Amritsar.
He is currently serving as a Punjab Local Bodies and Tourism Minister in the Captain Amarinder Singh-led state government which had incidentally favored the High Court’s decision to convict him in the case.
