'Thoko Taali': Sidhu mocked by Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress after SC order

Moments after Navjot Singh Sidhu was sentenced to a one-year jail term in a 34-year-old road rage case, Captain Amarinder Singh wittily reacted on Thursday. Through the official Twitter handle of his 2021-established party, Punjab Lok Congress, Amarinder Singh without naming Sidhu, mocked him by writing 'Thoko Talli'- the cricketer-turned-politician's widely famous dialogue that he often used on the comedy shows he judged over the years. 

'Will submit to the majesty of law...'

The Supreme Court allowed the review application on the issue of the sentence against Sidhu. The bench of the apex court comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and SK Kaul after initially reserving the petition filed by the victim's family in the three-decade-old case, said, "We have allowed review application on the issue of sentence. In addition to the fine imposed, we impose a sentence of imprisonment of one year to be undergone by respondent Sidhu."

Navjot Sidhu, 58, has to surrender before a court to serve a year's "rigorous imprisonment". "Will submit to the majesty of law...," tweeted the former Punjab Congress chief, who was spotted on the road earlier in the day, participating in a protest against the spiralling inflation in the country. 

Road rage case against Sidhu

On 27 December 1988, Sidhu got into an argument with Gurnam Singh, a resident of Patiala, over a parking spot. Sidhu, and his associate Rupinder Singh Sandhu allegedly dragged him out of his car and beat him after which he passed away. In 1999, a sessions court in Patiala acquitted Sidhu and his associate citing a lack of evidence and giving the benefit of the doubt. On a petition challenging this verdict, the Punjab and Haryana High court convicted Sidhu in 2006 of culpable homicide and sentenced him to three years in jail.

Sidhu challenged the conviction in the Supreme Court, which held that there was no evidence that the death of the victim was caused by a single blow in the road rage case. Sidhu was acquitted in connection with the culpable homicide charges but was convicted of the offence of voluntarily causing hurt. The court had slapped a fine of Rs 1,000 on Sidhu.