Sidhu sent to 14-day JC to Patiala Central Jail

Chandigarh, Jan 11: Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, convicted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court for culpable homicide in a 18-year-old road rage case, was today sent in 14-day judicial custody to the Patiala Central Jail by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Chandigarh, Y S Rathore.

The High Court earlier directed the former BJP MP from Amritsar, who wanted to surrender before the court, to appear before the CJM who had executed his bail bond on December 8 last year.

The direction was given by a division bench, comprising Mr Justice Mehtab Singh Gill and Mr Justice Baldev Singh, on an application filed by Sidhu and his accomplice Rupinder Singh Sandhu in the High Court yesterday for their surrender.

The CJM court also sent Rupinder Singh Sandhu, an accomplice of Sidhu in the road rage case, in judicial custody.

On December 6 last year, Sidhu had been sentenced to three-year imprisonment and fined Rs one lakh by the division bench for causing death of a Patiala resident in an 18-year-old road rage case.

The High Court had, however, suspended the sentence till January 31 to allow Sidhu to appeal in the Supreme Court.

The bench had directed Sidhu to appear before the CJM to furnish a Rs one lakh bail bond on December eight.

The High Court had on December one, found 43-year-old Sidhu guilty under section 304-Part-II IPC for committing culpable homicide not amounting to murder, overturning his acquittal by a lower court.

Sidhu, a star BJP parliamentarian, had later quit his Lok Sabha seat from Amritsar following his conviction.

UNI