Cooling his heels in jail, Sidhu takes up clerical job

Navjot Singh Sidhu, the celebrity jail bird now incarcerated in Patiala District Jail, has been entrusted a clerical job by the jail authorities. The cricketer-turned-commentator-turned-comedian-turned-politician was on May 19 sentenced to one-year imprisonment by the Supreme Court in a 34-year-old road-rage case.’

Navjot Singh Sidhu surrendered before the court a day after Supereme Court gave him 1 year jail due to 1988 Road Rage Case, in Patiala on Friday. ANI

Senior jail officials, on condition of anonymity, told The Daily Guardian Review that the former Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief has been asked to work like other inmates and earn for his keep. After a medical check up three days back, doctors prescribed a special diet for Sidhu. Keeping in mind his physical and medical condition, he has been assigned a clerical job by jail authorities. This would not be straining and tiring physically.

In his role as a jail clerk now, Siddhu would be responsible for maintaining inmates’ data, like recording the inmates’ work in/out time and miscellaneous expenses. Siddhu will be paid a measly sum of Rs. 90 a day for the job.

The cricketer had in 1987 hit Gurnam Singh, a 65-year-old resident of Chandigarh, which led to his death. The legal battle reached finally to the Supreme Court in 2018. Although the top court had held Siddhu guilty, he was acquitted with a fine of Rs 1000. However, the victim’s family filed a review petition and the Court handed him out one-year jail sentence. Siddhu surrendered before a Patiala court on May 20.

Popular for his famous couplets on glamorous women and coining slangs like ‘Thoko Taali’ and ‘Babji ka tullu’, life for Sidhu has been a roller coaster ride. Cooling his heels in jail, the former cricketer would now have ample time to hone his poetic skills while busying himself with the job the jail authorities have entrusted him with.