Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu is all set to play a new innings in Patiala Central Jail. Once considered a frontrunner for the Punjab Chief Minister’s post, the multi-faceted Sidhu will be playing the role of a “munshi” (a clerical job) within the four walls of the Patiala Central Jail, after he was sentenced to a year’s rigorous imprisonment by the Supreme Court in a 1988 road rage case.
A jail official, who did not wish to be named, maintained that the Congress leader — a three-time MP, a former Minister — had already started his work, checking the files, from Tuesday itself.
The official said Sidhu’s post would be referred to as munshi, as per jail terminology. “Sidhu has been assigned the clerical work, he will be working on the paperwork. We have decided on Sidhu’s work keeping in mind his security inside the jail which is a major challenge for us. Sidhu will work from his barrack only in two shifts with ne break,” a jail official told The Pioneer.
The prisoners, undergoing rigorous imprisonment, usually work in the jail factories or the bakeries. Considering that many hardcore criminals also work in jail factories and bakeries, the jail authorities have decided to assign the clerical work to Sidhu keeping in mind his security.
Moreover, Sidhu is well educated, suitable to handle paperwork. The official said Sidhu would be working in two shifts — from 9 am to 12 pm and 3 pm to 5 pm; with a three-hour break in between.
For the work, Sidhu will not get any salary for the first three months. “As Sidhu has no clerical experience, he is categorised as an unskilled worker. So he will be working as a trainee for first three months. After that, he will start getting salary of Rs 30 per day on becoming the semi-skilled worker, and later Rs 90 per day when he will be a skilled worker,” said the jail official.
The Supreme Court, past week, had sentenced Sidhu to one-year rigorous imprisonment in a three-decade-old road rage case, involving a man’s death, observing that any undue sympathy in imposing an inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice system and undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law. A 65-year-old man, named Gurnam Singh, had died in the incident.
Though the apex court had in May 2018 held Sidhu guilty of the offence of “voluntarily causing hurt” to the man, it had spared him a jail term and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000. Later, Gurnam Singh’s family had sought a review of the judgement, which was allowed by the SC.
Only a day before, Sidhu has been allowed to have a special diet, recommended by a medical board and approved by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, considering several health issues the former cricketer is facing.
