Here Are Five Controversies Involving Cricketer-Turned-Politician Navjot Singh Sidhu

Cricketer turned TV personality turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu has been the favourite child of controversy. Currently, he has been embroiled in a controversy after he visited Pakistan to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Imran Khan as Prime Minister of Pakistan. At the event, he hugged the Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa twice, which led to an uproar back home in India.

This is not the first time, Navjot Singh Sidhu has been involved in a controversy. Here’s looking back at all the controversies the Punjab Minister has been involved in :
1) THE 1988 ROAD RAGE CASE 

In December 1988, Navjot Singh Sidhu allegedly hit a  65-year-old man, Gurnam Singh, on the head, during a heated argument over the parking of a car. Gurnam Singh later died in the hospital. Allegedly, Singh had asked Sidhu and his friend to remove their vehicle which was parked in the middle of the road. This led to a heated argument between the two. Sidhu and his friend were convicted and sentenced to three -years of imprisonment in 2006 declaring them guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. However, in 2007, the apex court stayed the conviction for him to contest the by-poll for Amritsar Lok Sabha seat. 

2)THE 1996 INDIA TOUR IN ENGLAND 

In 1996, he had made headlines when he walked out of an ongoing India tour in England. He was the opener during that time and left without any warning. Back in India, when it was time to face the committee he refused to divulge reasons of his returning was even ready to face consequences. However, later it was revealed that he walked out because of the filthy abusive words used by the then captain of Indian cricket team Mohammad Azharuddin. 

3) BREACH OF AGREEMENT WITH STAR INDIA

In 2015, Navjot Singh Sidhu landed in trouble for breach of contractual agreement of exclusivity. He had made a three year deal with Star India worth Rs 22.5 crores during the Indian Premier League 2014. As per the agreement he was supposed to devote a minimum of 150 days in the first year to commentary and minimum 180 days in the consequent years. He not only failed to meet the minimum daily requirement but also breached the exclusivity agreement by agreeing to work for Sony during IPL 2014.

4) ON THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW 

While Navjot Singh Sidhu was a permanent guest on The Kapil Sharma Show, a complaint was filed against him by advocate HC Arora for making a vulgar joke on National television. According to the advocate, the joke violated various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, as well as those of the Information and Technology (IT) Act. As per the advocate the joke went something like this: 'Kapil, you please get married, otherwise after crossing 40-years of age, you shall lose your reproductive capacity.' The same advocate had earlier made another complaint against Sidhu on the same grounds.'

5) TAX ASSESSMENT CASE 

In March 2018, Navjot Singh Sidhu’s bank accounts were frozen as he lost an appeal related to tax assessment. A per report he had a due of Rs 52 Lakhs, which he attributed to dresses and tour expense. However, there was no proper bill to authenticate it. The tax department had disallowed 30 per cent of his expenditure he had declared in his income return.