PATIALA: After the Supreme Court enhanced on Thursday the sentence of Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu to one-year rigorous imprisonment in a 1988 road rage case, the family of Gurnam Singh who died in the incident said they finally got justice after 34 years and thanked the Almighty.
"We are thankful and grateful to God. We have finally got justice after 34 years," Gurnam Singh's son Narvedinder Singh said.
"We are satisfied with the verdict," he said over the phone.
Asked about her reaction to the verdict, Gurnam Singh's daughter-in-law Parveen Kaur said, "We thank Baba Ji (Almighty). We had left it to Baba ji. Whatever Baba Ji has done is right."
The Singh family resides at Ghalori village, five km from Patiala city.
In his reaction, Gurnam Singh's grandson Sabby Singh just said, "We thank God."
The Supreme Court Thursday imposed a sentence of one-year rigorous imprisonment on the cricketer-turned-politician in the 1988 road rage case, saying any undue sympathy to impose an inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice system and undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law.
A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and S K Kaul allowed the review plea filed by the victim's family on the issue of the sentence awarded to Sidhu.
Though the apex court had in May 2018 held Sidhu guilty of the offence of "voluntarily causing hurt" to a 65-year-old Gurnam Singh in the case, it spared him a jail term and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000.
"We feel there is an error apparent on the face of record, therefore, we have allowed the review application on the issue of sentence. In addition to the fine imposed, we consider it appropriate to impose a sentence of imprisonment for a period of one year," the bench said while pronouncing the verdict.
In September 2018, the apex court had agreed to examine the review petition filed by the family members of the deceased and had issued the notice, restricted to the quantum of sentence.
According to the prosecution, Sidhu and his aide Rupinder Singh Sandhu were in a Gypsy parked in the middle of a road near the Sheranwala Gate Crossing in Patiala on December 27, 1988, when the victim and two others were on their way to the bank to withdraw money.
When they reached the crossing, it was alleged, that Gurnam Singh, driving a Maruti car, found the Gypsy in the middle of the road and asked the occupants, Sidhu and Sandhu, to remove it.
This led to heated exchanges.
Sidhu was acquitted of murder charges by a trial court in September 1999.
However, the high court reversed the verdict and held Sidhu and Sandhu guilty under section 304 (II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC in December 2006.
It had sentenced them to three years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on them.
The top court had acquitted Sandhu of all charges.
Punjab Congress leader Rana Gurjeet Singh on Thursday expressed satisfaction with the Supreme Court imposing a one-year jail term on former state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu in a 1988 road rage case, joining the ranks of AAP and SAD leaders who hailed the verdict.
The Supreme Court on Thursday enhanced the sentence of Sidhu to one-year rigorous imprisonment in the incident in which a 65-year-old man had died.
Singh, the Congress MLA from Kapurthala, said the apex court's order has to be respected by everyone and advised Sidhu to do self introspection while stressing that the verdict was not a setback for the Congress.
Last year, Singh had accused Sidhu of trying to create divisions within the party and questioning the loyalty of "true and traditional Congressmen".
During the state assembly elections, Sidhu had backed the candidature of Navtej Singh Cheema for the party ticket from Sultanpur Lodhi, however, Singh's son -- Rana Inder Partap Singh -- won as an Independent from the seat.
Congress MLA and former minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa too did not see the verdict as a setback for the party and said that the victim's family got justice in the matter.
However, Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira said he was extremely saddened by the sentence awarded to Sidhu.
"I'm extremely saddened by the sentence awarded to @sherryontopp although like he said one has to submit to the majesty of law but there are tens and thousands of actual lawbreakers & corrupt politicians and powerful bureaucrats who continue to Scott free," said Khaira in a tweet.
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal, while reacting to the SC verdict, said the victim's family had been waiting for justice and "today the SC has done justice".
Aam Aadmi Party chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said being a law abiding citizen, Sidhu must accept the SC verdict.
With this verdict, the trust of the victim's family in the judicial system has also strengthened, he further said.
AAP MLA Jeevan Jyot Kaur, who had defeated Sidhu from the Amritsar East assembly seat, said the victim's family has got justice in the matter.
A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and S K Kaul on Thursday allowed the review plea filed by the victim's family on the issue of the sentence awarded to Sidhu.
Though the apex court had in May 2018 held Sidhu guilty of the offence of "voluntarily causing hurt" to the victim in the case, it spared him a jail term and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000.
"We feel there is an error apparent on the face of record, therefore, we have allowed the review application on the issue of sentence. In addition to the fine imposed, we consider it appropriate to impose a sentence of imprisonment for a period of one year," the bench said while pronouncing the verdict.