Former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu has been sentenced to one-year imprisonment in a 1988 road rage accident case in which one person had died.
"... 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 SC bench said.
The Punjab Congress President has accepted the Supreme Court's verdict. "Will submit to the majesty of law ....," he tweeted.
The Patiala-born cricketer had made his Test debut in 1983. However, he made his ODI debut in 1987 and was looking to cement his place in the limited-overs squad when the incident took place.
Road rage incident
On December 27, 1999, Sidhu and his associate Rupinder Singh Sandhu had allegedly hit Gurnam Singh on his head which led to his death. The heated exchange happened over parking of a car. The 65-year-old man had asked Sidhu and his friend Rupinder to remove their vehicle from the middle of the road which led to altercation.
In 2006, Sidhu and Rupinder were convicted. The High Court had announced a three-year imprisonment in 2006. Later, in 2007, the conviction was stayed and Sidhu was allowed to contest the by-poll for Amritsar Lok Sabha seat.
However, this is not the first controversy Sidhu has been embroiled in. Here are Sidhu’s four other controversies on-the-field and off-the-field.
India tour of England
In 1996, Sidhu lost his cool during India's tour of England. The opening batter had walked out of the tour midway. He did not face any repercussions for his actions then but upon coming back home he did not give any reasons. He was even ready to face the punishment from the board. Later, the issue was revealed. He walked out over inappropriate language used by then captain Mohammad Azharuddin.
Breach of agreement with Star
Sidhu found himself in troubled waters over breach of contractual agreement of exclusivity with Star India. According to the Rs 22.5 crore deal, he was expected to do commentary for minimum 150 days in the first year followed by 180 days in the remaining two years.
During Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014, Sidhu failed to meet the minimum daily requirement. In addition, he breached the exclusivity agreement after agreeing to work with Sony during this period.
Exit from The Kapil Sharma Show
Sidhu had been a regular on renowned The Kapil Sharma Show. However, a complaint filed against him by advocate HC Arora led to his departure. The complaint was over a joke that was found to be in violation of Indian Penal Code and Information and Technology (IT) Act. Here's one of the joke that the advocate took offense to - 'Kapil, you please get married, otherwise after crossing 40-years of age, you shall lose your reproductive capacity.'
The Tax Assessment Case
The most recent controversy took place four years ago. Sidhu's bank accounts were frozen after losing an appeal in relation to his tax assessment. According to the report, an amount of Rs 52 lakh was due, which was allocated to dresses and tour expense. The lack of no proper bill prevented it from being authenticated. As a result, 30 per cent of his expenditure was disallowed which was earlier declared by the cricketer-turned politician as his income return.
