Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu surrendered in a Patiala court on May 20 and will serve his one-year sentence in the Central Jail. The Supreme Court on Thursday pronounced the sentence in the 1988 road rage death case. In Patiala Jail, Sidhu will not receive wages for three months before he is classified as unskilled, semi-skilled or skilled.
The 58-year-old former Punjab Congress chief surrendered soon after 4 pm on Friday, and was taken for a mandatory medical check-up at Mata Kaushalya Hospital. After the checkup, he was taken to the jail in a police jeep. Patiala is the original city of the East India Cricketer. Here’s what a day in Sidhu’s life might look like in jail:
- The day in the jail starts at 5.30 am
- Biscuit or black gram are served with tea at 7 a.m.
- A brunch of six chapatis, dal or vegetables will be served at 8.30 am, after which the prisoners will go to work.
- Prisoners finish their work, allotted by category, at 5.30 pm
- Prisoners eat dinner at 6 pm, six chapatis, pulses or vegetables
- All prisoners are locked in their barracks till 7 pm
As per the Punjab Jail Manual, while in jail, Sidhu will undergo training without pay for three months. After that, he will be classified as unskilled, semi-skilled or skilled. Prisoners earn Rs 30 to 90 a day.
The prisoners work eight hours a day and their fee is borne by the government. As per the manual, 25 per cent of the prisoner’s income is in the form of prison money while the rest is deposited in a savings account.
Earlier, when Sidhu went to court to surrender, he was accompanied by some party leaders and their supporters including Navtej Singh Cheema, Ashwini Sekhri, Hardayal Singh Kamboj, Piermal Singh. Cheema chases away Sidhu, who is wearing a blue ‘Pathani suit’ and wearing dark glasses. But in jail, Sidhu will have to wear the mandatory white clothes of a prisoner.
While in jail, Sidhu will have to avoid a diet that contains wheat flour, his media advisor Surinder Dalla said. The Congress leader had undergone two to three surgeries and is suffering from medical conditions like embolism and liver ailment.
Dalla also said that Sidhu will have to take some medicine. In 2015, Sidhu also underwent treatment for Acute Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) at a Delhi hospital. DVT is caused by a blood clot in a deep vein that obstructs normal blood flow.
Ironically, Sidhu’s arch rival Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia is also lodged in the same jail in the drug case. Majithia contested against Sidhu from Amritsar (East). Both the leaders lost the election to AAP’s Jeevanjot Kaur.
(with PTI inputs)
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