Ex-minister Navjot Sidhu fails to appear in Ludhiana court due to health issues
Sidhu was not brought to Ludhiana from Patiala jail as he had to be taken to Rajindra hospital there for a check-up. Doctors reportedly advised against his travelling to Ludhiana.
Summoned by Ludhiana court after his various pleas and revision petitions for non-appearance were dismissed thrice, Congress leader and ex-minister Navjot Singh could not be produced in court on Friday due to health reasons. While the district court in Ludhiana witnessed unprecedented security measures in place, in wake of Navjot Singh Sidhu expected to be produced before the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Sumit Makkar, the leader was not brought here from Patiala jail as he had to be taken to Rajindra hospital there for a check-up. Doctors reportedly advised against his travelling to Ludhiana.
The Court has fixed the next date of hearing on October 28 when the leader is expected to be brought here.
On Thursday night, chief minister Bhagwant Mann also said in a Tweet that adequate security arrangements have been made for taking Navjot Singh Sidhu to Ludhiana court. Sidhu is serving one year jail term as he was convicted in a road rage case of 1988 in which one person was killed.
On Friday, the main door to the entry of district courts in Ludhiana was heavily barricaded with the public being asked to enter the court building through alternative gates. This resulted in inconvenience of the public, especially senior citizens who had to take a detour and walk additional distance to go to various courtrooms.
Sidhu has repeatedly refused to appear in Ludhiana court as a witness in a criminal complaint case filed against former food and civil supplies minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu by suspended DSP (Ludhiana Municipal Corporation) Balwinder Singh Sekhon.
Sekhon has alleged that Ashu called and threatened him while he was in the process of conducting an inquiry in Grand Manor Homes CLU case. Navjot Sidhu was the then local bodies minister and thus has been made a witness in the complaint case. Sidhu had pleaded that he cannot be summoned as a witness in the case. He also pleaded that due to security reasons, he can depose through video conferencing from jail. The court had dismissed all the pleas and summoned him to appear before the court today.
The suspended DSP had pleaded in the court that Sidhu should be summoned as a witness in the case because it was during his (Sidhu’s) tenure as local bodies minister in 2019 that Ashu’s name had prominently figured in the probe report of CLU scam which was prepared by the officer and the case file was submitted in Sidhu’s office which is now reportedly “missing”. The DSP had alleged that during the inquiry, Ashu telephoned him and issued multiple threats, and tried to derail the inquiry using his political influence.
In the summoning order, the court had ruled that Sidhu’s testimony sought was necessary in order to view the matter from a correct perspective, in particular when it has already been brought on record that the original inquiry file has been lost after its submission to the office of the then minister, local bodies department.
Court had said that the respondent has brought to the notice of this Court that after having been detained in central jail, Patiala, the revisionist went to PGI Chandigarh, for his medical treatment, without any Z+ security. “If the revisionist can visit PGI Chandigarh for his medical treatment, he can also appear as a witness in the Court at Ludhiana,” court had said.