Navjot Singh Sidhu complains of ‘misuse of canteen card’, fellow inmate shifted out of barracks

Sidhu, who is serving a one-year term of rigorous imprisonment, used to handover his card to two inmates to buy fruits for him, his wife Dr Navjot Kaur told The Indian Express. She added that the monthly limit of Rs 15,000 exhausted barely within a few days after the canteen card was recharged, triggering a complaint.

Punjab Director General of Police (Prisons) Harpreet Singh Sidhu, while responding to a text message, said, “(Navjot Singh) Sidhu has reported to the jail authorities that one of his fellow inmates has misused his canteen card. In this regard, the matter was verified and an inmate was shifted from (the) ward in which Sidhu is kept.”

Harpreet Sidhu also refuted reports in a section of media that Navjot Singh Sidhu was involved in any type of quarrel or argument with any inmate, so did Sidhu’s lawyer H P S Verma. “As far as matter relates to shifting of inmates that is normal jail routine. Sidhu’s security has not been compromised,” added Harpreet Sidhu.

However, the senior officer did not respond to further text messages when asked if both the jail inmates whom the politician handed over his card to were shifted out or if any probe has been initiated or any case registered on the complaint made by him. He also did not reply when asked if such a complaint, as per the Punjab Jail Manual, only warrants shifting of inmate/s and not registering a case. Query about when did Navjot Singh Sidhu learn about the misuse of his canteen card also went unanswered.

Patiala Jail Superintendent Manjit Singh Tiwana informed over phone that shifting of inmates is a “routine” practice.

Punjab Jails Minister Harjot Singh Bains did not respond to calls and text messages. Meanwhile, news agency ANI quoted him refuting reports that Sidhu had a spat inside the jail and said, “No brawl took place. It was a 4-day old trivial issue. Every inmate is issued a card. Sidhu says an inmate had drawn ration on his card for himself. Legal notice will be sent to channels that run such news.”

A medical board constituted on the direction of a local court in Patiala had recommended rosemary tea, juices, fruits and one roti, among other eatables in the seven-meal diet chart of the politician after Sidhu had moved an application seeking a special diet given his health complications.

The panel of doctors observed that 58-year-old Sidhu has a “history of Pulmonary Embolism in 2009 requiring hospitalization (no record available) and history of lower limb DVT (deep vein thrombosis) in 2016 while on warfarine (poor compliance)”. The report also noted that he is currently asymptomatic. The panel diagnosed “pulmonary embolism and left leg DVT (old); Hyperhomocysteinimia (a condition where there is greater than 15 micromol/L of homocysteine — a type of amino acid the human body used to make proteins in the blood); non-alcoholic steato-hepatitis (NASH); and obesity”. It also observed that the doppler of his left leg showed evidence of recanalized thrombus.

A fibroscan showed significant fat in the liver with suggestion of cirrhosis. Sidhu later underwent further medical examinations at PGI Chandigarh for his health complications.