India
Navjot Singh Sidhu surrendered to a court in Patiala on Friday
Navjot Singh Sidhu, Congress leader in Patiala, arrives at Mata Kaushalya Hospital for a medical checkup.
A day after being sentenced to a year of solitary confinement by the Supreme Court in a 1988 case involving road rage, Sidhu appeared in court and surrendered.
He’ll be detained in Patiala’s jail there.
He was escorted to the district courthouse near his home by several party leaders, among them Navtej Singh Cheema. He drove Sidhu, dressed in a dark “pathani suit,” to the courthouse in an SUV.
A court in Patiala accepts Sidhu’s surrender
Sidhu appeared in court in Delhi on Friday, a day after he was sentenced to a year in prison for a 1988 road-rage incident in which he was found guilty by a three-judge panel.
He arrived at the district court in the afternoon, accompanied by several party leaders, including Navtej Singh Cheema.
Sidhu was transported to court by Cheema in an SUV.
When Sidhu approached the Supreme Court this morning, it requested that he be given a few more weeks to surrender and serve the one-year sentence that was handed down to him in 1988 for driving recklessly.
India’s Supreme Court on Thursday handed down a one-year prison sentence to Sidhu in the case, saying that any “undue sympathy” to impose an inadequate sentence would harm the justice system and erode public confidence in the rule of law.
Justice A M Khanwilkar presided over the hearing, and senior advocate A M Singhvi, representing Sidhu, brought up the issue “It’s now been 34 years. He’s looking to get his medical affairs in order.”
During a 1988 road rage case, Sidhu surrendered to the Patiala court and was sentenced to six months in prison.
Navjot Singh Sidhu surrenders to a court in Patiala
Navjot Singh Sidhu surrendered to a court in Patiala on Friday, a day after the Supreme Court sentenced him to one year of rigorous imprisonment in a 1988 road rage death case.
Senior advocate HPS Verma, who was accompanying Sidhu to the court, said, “He surrendered before the court of chief judicial magistrate Amit Malhan.”
A few minutes after 4 p.m., the ex-Punjab Congress president surrendered and was taken to the hospital for a mandatory medical examination. After the medical examination, he was taken to the Patiala Central Jail for detention.
His supporters, including Navtej Singh Cheema, Ashwani Sekhri, and other party leaders, accompanied him from his home to the courthouse, which is located just a few blocks from his house.
