Navjot Sidhu is prisoner number 137683 in the Patiala jail.
Congress leader Navjot Sidhu did not have dinner on his first night in Patiala jail in Punjab, news agency PTI has reported. Sidhu was on Thursday sentenced by the Supreme Court to a one-year jail term in a 1988 road rage case.
Navjot Sidhu is currently lodged in barrack no. 10 at the central jail in Punjab's Patiala. He is sharing the barrack with four other inmates.
On his first night, Sidhu skipped his meal on the first night and only had his medicines. The former Punjab Congress chief had already taken his dinner, reports PTI.
Sidhu, who is prisoner number 137683 in the Patiala jail, will also have to work in the prison.
The prisoners in Patiala jail earn Rs30-Rs 90 daily. For the first three months, the convicts are trained without wages. They earn Rs 30-90 daily after being classified as unskilled, semi-skilled or skilled prisoner.
Another high-profile prisoner lodged in Patiala jail is Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who had contested against Navjot Sidhu from Amritsar East in the Punjab Assembly polls. Sidhu and Majithia had both lost the elections to AAP's Jeevan Jyot Kaur.
The Supreme Court had on Thursday sentenced Sidhu to one-year rigorous imprisonment in the 34-year-old case, saying 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, Gurnam Singh, had died in the incident.
Sidhu began his political innings in 2004, contesting the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket from Amritsar, where he shifted his base from Patiala. He defeated Congress heavyweight R L Bhatia.
The former cricketer's relationship with the Badal family soured even though the Shiromani Akali Dal was a BJP ally then. And then he had problems with the BJP after the party fielded Arun Jaitley from Amritsar in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Though he was accommodated in the Rajya Sabha later, the maverick politician quit the party to join the Congress ahead of 2017 Punjab polls.