Punjab Congress chief urges CM Bhagwant Mann to consider release of Navjot Sidhu from jail

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Saturday appealed to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to consider early release of Navjot Singh Sidhu who is serving an year-long sentence in Patiala central prison in a 1988 road rage death case.

The appeal comes a day after the Punjab Cabinet approved a proposal of granting special remission to five convicts serving terms in jails. However, the name of Sidhu does not figure in the list.

"I appeal to Chief Minister @BhagwantMann Sahab to consider the early release of senior @INCIndia leader @sherryontopp  Navjot Singh Sidhu Ji also. Matters of justice should be treated above the partisan divide," Warring tweeted.

There had been speculations that Sidhu might be granted special remission on the Republic Day.  Several Punjab Congress leaders, including former Punjab Congress chief Shamsher Singh Dullo, had last month lambasted the AAP government for not releasing Sidhu.

On May 20 last year, Sidhu, the former Punjab Congress chief, was jailed following his surrender before a court in Patiala after he was sentenced to one-year rigorous imprisonment by the Supreme Court. The top court had, in its order, said any sympathy in imposing an inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice system and undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law.

Though the court had in May 2018 held Sidhu guilty of ”voluntarily causing hurt” to the man, it had spared him a jail term and imposed on him a fine of Rs 1,000.The Punjab Cabinet on Friday gave approval for sending the case of special remission to convicts confined in jails of Punjab in the second phase to commemorate the 75th Independence Day of the country being celebrated as ’Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’.

Similarly, a green signal was also given for sending the cases for seeking premature release of life convicts confined in the jails of state. After the Cabinet’s nod under Article 163 of the Constitution of India, these special remission/premature release cases will be submitted to Punjab Governor under Article 161 of the constitution, an official statement had said.