Daijiworld Media Network

Chandigarh, Apr 12: Making it clear that it will always uphold the law, the Punjab government has said that it will not shield its own minister Navjot Singh Sidhu in a 30-year-old road rage case. The government has told the Supreme Court that the Punjab and Haryana high court was correct in convicting its incumbent minister.

Sidhu on December 27, 1988 had hit senior citizen Gurnam Singh (65) on his head after an argument between them on a road in Patiala. Though the high court held Sidhu guilty awarding him a three year jail term, the Supreme Court suspended the sentence in 2007 which allowed him to contest elections.

A bench of Justice J Chelameswar and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul was informed by the Punjab government that Gurnam Singh had died after a fist blow from cricketer-turned-politician Sidhu.

Counsel for Punjab government told a bench of Justices J Chelameswar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul that the statement given by Sidhu denying his involvement in the case was false and Gurnam Singh had died of brain hemorrhage, and not cardiac arrest, after being struck by Sidhu.

Appearing for the Punjab government, advocate Sanram Singh Saron said, "There is not a single evidence which suggests that the cause of death was cardiac arrest and not brain haemorrhage as concluded by the trial court."

He said, "The trial court verdict was rightly set aside by the high court. Accused A1 (Navjot Singh Sidhu) had given feisty blow to deceased Gurnam Singh leading to his death through brain haemorrhage."

A party leader backed the counsel’s stand and said Congress government will not shield its ministers or MLAs like Yogi Adityanath government in UP. Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh has always maintained that his government will not interfere in judicial matters and this case is an example the government always upholds the law.