Day later, Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu surrenders, lodged in Patiala jail

Tribune News Service

Patiala, May 20

Former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu is now No. 2150/576/CT and his address — Library Ward, Central Jail Patiala. Sidhu surrendered before a court here on Friday, a day after being sentenced to one-year rigorous imprisonment by the Supreme Court in a 1988 road rage case.

About the Library ward

• Sidhu will have 8 to 10 inmates for company at the jail’s Library Ward
• Inmates in this ward are allowed to add spices to food served to them
• The ward has a hall; mats are spread over raised plinths & used as beds

Accompanied by Cheema

Navtej Singh Cheema, Ashwani Sekhri, Hardyal Kamboj and Surjit Dhiman among other leaders accompanied Sidhu to the court.

It was a day full of suspense as Sidhu spent time at his ancestral house in Patiala while waiting for his plea to be heard before the Supreme Court. He had requested for a few more weeks to surrender on health grounds. The cricketer-turned-politician finally surrendered around 4 pm. The top court Bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and JB Pardiwala told senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing for Sidhu, that the judgment on one-year rigorous imprisonment was passed by a special Bench, and that he could file the application and mention it before the CJI.

Singhvi said he would try and mention the matter before the CJI. “The former PCC chief surrendered before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Amit Malhan,” said senior advocate HPS Verma, who accompanied Sidhu to the court. Shortly after the surrender, he was taken for the mandatory medical examination, conducted at Mata Kaushalya Hospital. After the check-up, he was lodged in the Library Ward of Patiala Central Jail.

Some party leaders, including Navtej Singh Cheema, Ashwani Sekhri, Hardyal Singh Kamboj and Surjit Singh Dhiman, accompanied him from his residence to the court. Cheema drove Sidhu to the court in an SUV.

“I feel sorry as he has already gone through a lot,” said Rupinder Sandhu, the co-accused acquitted in 2018.

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