[Review petition in road rage case ] Fine sufficient, jail not needed: Navjot Singh Sidhu to Supreme Court

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has sought the dismissal of review petition challenging the Supreme Court's 2018 judgment that had reduced the punishment imposed on him in a 1988 road rage case from 3 years imprisonment to ₹1,000 fine [Jaswinder Singh (Dead) through Legal Representative v. Navjot Singh Sidhu and Others]..Sidhu in his affidavit has stated that "fine is an adequate punishment if there has been a long passage of time from the date of offence."A bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul is slated to hear the review plea today.The Supreme Court had in September 2018, admitted the review petition filed against the sentence awarded to Sidhu in the case.The review was filed by the son of the victim who had allegedly died after a physical assault by Sidhu and others..Sidhu has submitted that the petitioner has attempted to "re-appreciate the entire evidence on record which is neither permissible not necessary, considering the impugned order has dealt with every aspect of the case, including the medical evidence, with great care and detail". .Sidhu has also cited his "active public life" and impeccable "sporting career" as grounds in the affidavit. "Sidhu has had an active public life with an impeccable record as a parliamentarian wherein he has worked for the welfare of not only the citizens of his constituency but the public at large," the reply affidavit said..In May 2018, the Supreme Court had let off Sidhu with a fine of Rs. 1000, for the offence of voluntarily causing hurt under Section 323 of IPC. The judgment was delivered by a Division Bench of Justices Jasti Chelameswar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul.The apex court had set aside the judgment of the Punjab & Haryana High Court that held him guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The High Court had awarded Sidhu and another accused three years’ imprisonment and a fine of ₹1 lakh each..The case of the prosecution was that in December 1988, the victim and the appellants got into a heated exchange over a vehicle belonging to the appellants which was allegedly parked in the middle of the road.This exchange, according to the prosecution, led to a physical assault on the victim, who was pronounced dead when he was taken to the hospital. It was claimed by the prosecution that Sidhu had fled the scene of the crime.The trial court had acquitted the appellants in 1999 on the grounds that the death of the victim was caused due to cardiac arrest and not due to the injuries sustained in the assault. This acquittal, however, was set aside by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2006, which found the appellants guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.In 2007, the Supreme Court had stayed Sidhu’s conviction and had granted him bail..Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra, Advocates-on-Record Abhishek Atrey, Jyoti Mendiratta, advocates Sudhir Walia, Niharika Ahluwalia and Ambika Atrey appear for the petitioner.Senior Advocate P Chidambaram, Advocate-on-Record A Karthik, advocates Manu Sharma, Smrithi Suresh, Vijay Singh, Arsh Khan and Saaketh Kasibhatla appear for the respondents.