edited by: Oindrila Mukherjee
Last Update: February 04, 2023, 00:25 IST
Former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu will be eligible to come out of jail in April, about one-and-a-half months before he completes his one-year term on May 19. (Image: PTI/File)
Speculation about sending the special funds to former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu has been rife since December, when the prisons department began an exercise to identify prisoners who could be released on January 26.
The premature release of former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu remains in a cloud of uncertainty. The Bhagwant Mann-led cabinet on Friday approved commutation of sentences of five prisoners but did not include the cricketer-turned-politician lodged in the Patiala jail.
The cabinet formally pardoned three prisoners under the Centre’s Amrit Mahotsav scheme, but Sidhu’s name was not among them, leaving his supporters disappointed. Speculations about sending the special amount to Sidhu had been rife since December, when the state prisons department began an exercise to identify prisoners who could be released on January 26 under the scheme.
There were some indications that Sidhu would be released when the prisons department was headed by Harjot Singh Bains. After the cabinet reshuffle in January, when the chief minister took over the jail department, the speculation came to an end.
After the prisons department allegedly prepared a case for recommending the names of eight prisoners under the Amrit Mahotsav scheme, rumors of Sidhu’s involvement intensified again. However, the cabinet has approved the names of only three prisoners for remission in this scheme. These include Lakhveer Singh (detained in Central Jail, Faridkot), Ravinder Singh (detained in Central Jail, Amritsar) and Taspreet Singh (detained in Central Jail, Ludhiana).
The other two whose premature release has been approved for repatriation by the Punjab cabinet include Anirudh Mandal and Shambhu Mandal, both lodged in Ludhiana jail. Both have reportedly completed their term but it was extended as they could not deposit the fine imposed due to financial constraints.
Even as Sidhu’s anticipated release on special dispensation grounds is yet to materialize, the former minister would be eligible to walk out of jail in April, nearly a month and a half before he completes his one-year jail term on May 19.
read all latest politics news Here
