Sidhu gets stay of imprisonment by Cricket Archive Staff reporter

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Player:

NS Sidhu

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DateLine: 24th January 2007

 

India's Supreme Court decided on Tuesday to stay the imprisonment of cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, sentenced to three years in jail for killing a man in an outburst of road rage. The ruling, which means Sidhu is a free man until his appeal against the sentence is heard, also means he can seek re-election to parliament as an MP representing the Sikh pilgrimage city of Amritsar next month, the Press Trust of India said. After his conviction in December, Sidhu had resigned his seat "on moral grounds", but said Tuesday he intended to re-enter parliament even though his legal woes were far from over. In addition to his pending appeal, relatives of the victim are also demanding that his sentence be increased. The case against the flamboyant Sidhu dates back to 1988 when he dragged an elderly man out of his car and showered him with blows after a road accident. The 43-year-old, now also a well-known TV commentator, had previously been acquitted of the charges in 1999 by a lower court. Sidhu has played 51 Test matches and 136 one-day internationals for India during a career spanning 16 years between 1983 and 1999.