Former Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu, who is currently in jail in connection with the 1988 road rage case, had a rough night in Patiala Jail. As reported by Hindustan Times, Livemint’s sister publication, Sidhu skipped his meals on Friday night, but he took some medicines. An official told the daily that Sidhu is enthusiastic and cooperating. The official said that there is no special meal for the former cricketer. However, if a doctor recommends a particular food, Sidhu can either buy it from the prison canteen or make it himself.
Interestingly, another high-profile prisoner in jail here in a drug case is Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who contested against Sidhu from Amritsar East. Both Sidhu and Majithia lost the election to AAP’s Jeevanjot Kaur.
Sidhu’s Jail number is 241383 and it is kept in Barrack No 7 in Patiala Jail, Punjab.
According to jail officials, the cricketer-turned-politician will earn in the meantime from 40 60 every day during the jail term of one year. As per the jail rules, Sidhu will be given training for the first three months and after that he will have to work in the jail premises. becomes an unskilled prisoner 40 per day whereas a skilled prisoner gets 60 per day.
Furthermore, according to media reports, Sidhu’s day in jail Starts at 5:30 am, will have our own brunch at 8:30 am (6 chapatis, dal/sabzi); They will get food at 6 pm and by 7 pm they will be locked in their barracks.
Yesterday, the 58-year-old surrendered in a Patiala court after the Supreme Court sentenced him to one year in prison for a three-decade road rage incident in which a 65-year-old man died.
The Supreme Court had said that any undue sympathy in awarding inadequate punishment would do more harm to the justice system and undermine public confidence in the effectiveness of the law.
A 65-year-old man named Gurnam Singh was killed in this incident.
Though the apex court had in May 2018 convicted Sidhu of the offense of “voluntarily causing hurt” to the person, it had sentenced him to jail and imposed a fine. 1,000.
Gurnam Singh’s family had demanded a review of the verdict, which was allowed by the SC.
Sidhu, a former BJP MP, had joined the Congress ahead of the 2017 assembly elections.
Sidhu made his political debut in 2004, contesting the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket from Amritsar, where he shifted his base from Patiala. He defeated Congress veteran RL Bhatia.
The former cricketer’s relations with the Badal family soured, even though the Shiromani Akali Dal was an ally of the BJP at that time. And then he had a problem with the BJP after the party fielded Arun Jaitley from Amritsar in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Though he was later included in the Rajya Sabha, the temperamental politician left the party to join the Congress.