"Democracy in chains...": Navjot Singh Sidhu after walking out of Patiala jail
Apr 01, 2023
Patiala (Punjab) [India], April 1 : Soon after walking out of Patiala jail, where he was lodged for nearly 10 months in connection with a road rage case, Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Saturday said that democracy is in chains and that there is a conspiracy to bring President's Rule in Punjab.
"Democracy is in chains. There is no such thing as democracy right now. Conspiracy to bring President's Rule in Punjab. Minorities being targeted. If you try to weaken Punjab, you will become weak," he told reporters here.
He said that he was supposed to be released around noon but they [jail officials] delayed it as they wanted press persons to leave.
Expressing his support for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was recently disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP, he said that the former Wayanad MP will rattle the government.
"Whenever a dictatorship came to this country a revolution has also come and this time, the name of that revolution is Rahul Gandhi. He will rattle the government," he said.
On a question about the fugitive pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh, Sidhu said that on the situation of law and order in the State he will speak at the home of slain Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala.
Sidhu was released from Patiala Jail today, after spending 10 months in jail.
Sidhu was sentenced to one-year jail by Supreme Court in a three-decade-old road rage case.
Scores of people had gathered outside Sidhu's residence, who danced on Dhol beats and welcomed the Congress leader by showering petals on him.
The Congress leader was sentenced to one year imprisonment by the Supreme Court in May last year in the 1988 case of road rage in which he allegedly thrashed one Gurnam Singh, who later died in hospital.
Punjab Minister Brahm Shankar Jimpa said on Friday that the Punjab government has no objection to Sidhu's release.
"The issue of the release of prisoners whose sentence has been completed is approved by the cabinet. Those who have completed their sentence will be released," Jimpa said.
The Supreme Court allowed the review application on the issue of sentence against Sidhu.
"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," the court said.
The order was delivered by a bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul.
The case has gone through Sessions Court, High Court and Supreme Court.
