Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu walked free on Saturday after spending nearly 10 months in Patiala central jail in a 1988 road rage death case.
He was wearing a sky blue jacket when he came out of jail.
There were expectations that he would be released by afternoon but he came out of jail at 5:53 pm.
The 59-year-old's supporters had assembled since morning outside the prison to accord him a grand welcome upon his release and they could be heard chanting 'Navjot Sidhu zindabad'.
Several Congress leaders including Amritsar MP Gurjit Aujla, former Punjab Congress chiefs Shamsher Singh Dullo, Mohinder Singh Kaypee and Lal Singh, former MLA Navtej Singh Cheema, other leaders Ashwani Sekhri, Sukhwinder Singh Danny were also waiting for the return of Sidhu.
The former state Congress chief was jailed on May 20 last year after being sentenced to one-year rigorous imprisonment by the Supreme Court over the death of the 65-year-old Gurnam Singh in a road rage case in 1988.
