Sidhu’s hug in Pak: Bihar court to hear case on Aug 24

Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu has found himself in a soup after being charged with sedition following his recent visit to Pakistan where he reportedly hugged Pak Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. A Bihar court will hear a complaint case against the Congress leader on August 24.

Sidhu, who is a Cabinet minister in Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Government, went to Pakistan in his personal capacity to attend the swearing-in function of Pak Prime Minister Imran Khan and has since been charged with hurting the sentiments of Indians and creating hatred among people.

“Sidhu, who went to Pakistan on August 18 to attend the swearing-in of Imran Khan, hugged Pakistan General Bajwa on whose orders Indian soldiers were being killed in cross-border terrorism. It is this Bajwa who is responsible for killings of Indians. Sidhu’s gesture has hurt the feelings of Indians,” said the Muzaffarpur-based lawyer Sudhir Kumar Ojha, in his complaint against the BJP-turned-Congress leader.

Ojha has lodged the complaint in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Muzaffarpur, Hari Prasad. In his petition, the lawyer has pleaded that Sidhu be booked under Section 124 A (sedition), Section 153 B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and Section 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Justice Prasad has decided to hear the case on Friday.