Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu seeks special diet in Patiala jail, taken to hospital for medical check-up

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, lodged in Patiala central prison to serve a one-year jail term in a 1988 road rage death case, was taken to Rajindra Hospital in Patiala under heavy security on Monday morning for medical examination. 

HPS Verma, counsel for the cricketer-turned-politician, has sought a special diet in jail. He said a board of directors will carry out a detailed medical examination of Sidhu at the hospital. 

As per reports, Sidhu has been having only boiled vegetables from the jail canteen after he had raised concerns about being allergic to wheat. Following the court direction, Sidhu was taken to the hospital to take a decision on his diet issue.

According to the counsel, Sidhu cannot consume wheat, sugar, ‘maida’ and some other food items. “He can have berries, papaya, guava, double-toned milk and food items which do not have fibre and carbohydrates,” Verma said.

After the board of doctors carry out a medical examination, a report will be submitted in the court of chief judicial magistrate, he said.

The 58-year-old Congress leader suffers from medical conditions like embolism and has a liver ailment. In 2015, Sidhu also underwent treatment for acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT) at a hospital in Delhi. DVT is caused by a blood clot in a deep vein which hinders the normal blood flow.

Several Congress supporters reached Rajindra Hospital after Sidhu was brought there.

The former Punjab Congress chief on May 20 was sent to Patiala central jail after he surrendered before a local court. He has been sentenced to one-year rigorous imprisonment by the Supreme Court in a 1988 road rage death case.

The apex court had sentenced Sidhu 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, named Gurnam Singh, had died in the incident.  

According to reports, Sidhu has been lodged in Barrack No. 10 at the central jail here and didn’t have dinner on the first night in prison. The leader has been lodged in the barrack with four other prisoners, and the former state Congress chief is prisoner number 1,37,683.