Navjot Singh Sidhu imprisoned for a fatal road rage incident.

In a decades-old road rage case, India’s Supreme Court sentenced cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu to one year in prison.

In 1988, Sidhu “intentionally inflicted hurt” to an old man, resulting in his death, according to the Supreme Court.

However, the former MP’s acquittal on a more serious manslaughter allegation stands.

His political career has suffered a significant blow as a result of the sentencing.

Sidhu recently resigned as Punjab Congress chairman after his party was wiped out in the recent state assembly elections.

He has few legal choices because he can only appeal the verdict once in the form of a curative petition.

The timeline of the case

Sidhu was initially charged with manslaughter in 1988, after a 65-year-old man died in Patiala hours following an argument with him. The case was prolonged in a trial court while India’s opening batsman continued to perform well in his fledgling international cricket career. Sidhu was acquitted by the court in 1999.

The state filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, which found him guilty of manslaughter in 2006. This caused him to resign from his parliamentary position in Amritsar, as Indian rules prohibit convicted individuals from holding public office.

He appealed the judgment to the Supreme Court, which delayed the sentence and allowed him to run for re-election in a by-election. In 2018, the Supreme Court cleared him of manslaughter but found him guilty of “hurting the victim” and ordered him to pay a fine of 1,000 rupees ($13; £10).

The victim’s family filed an appeal, and on Thursday, the Supreme Court increased the fine by one year.