PATIALA — Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu is set to walk out of Patiala jail today, 10 months after serving sentence in a road-rage incident in which a man was killed 34 years ago.
A tweet from Sidhu’s official Twitter handle reads that he will address the media outside jail around noon.
On Friday, Sidhu had tweeted that he was informed by the “concerned authorities” that he will be released today. “This is to inform everyone that Sardar Navjot Singh Sidhu will be released from Patiala Jail tomorrow,” reads the tweet.
Ahead of Sidhu’s release, large number of Congress leaders, his fans and supporters have gathered outside the Patiala jail to give a grand welcome to the former cricketer upon his release.
Navjot Singh Sidhu was scheduled to be released in May, but is being released early on account of his good behaviour.
Navjot Sidhu’s scheduled release was in May, but for all prisoners with good conduct, all Sunday holidays get deducted from the sentence period. Therefore, (Navjot) Sidhu is getting a 48-day remission, said Sidhu’s lawyer HPS Verma as per NDTV.
The Supreme Court had last year in May ordered one-year rigorous imprisonment for the 59-year-old politician following a petition by the family of a man who died after a brawl with Navjot Singh Sidhu and his friend in 1988.
The Supreme Court in 2018 ordered Sidhu to pay a fine of ₹ 1,000 rupees for voluntarily hurting a person. However, the court, reviewing its own order, said it considered it appropriate to jail Mr Sidhu, saying some aggravated culpability must be attached if a person dies.