Congress MP Rasheed Masood gets four-year jail term

A special CBI court on October 1, 2013, sentenced Congress Rajya Sabha member Rasheed Masood and A K Roy to four years' jail in an MBBS seat allocation case.

As per the recent Supreme Court order to disqualify convicted MPs, Masood will lose his MP seat with immediate effect.

Masood, who was convicted for fraudulently nominating undeserving candidates to MBBS seats in 1990-91, on Tuesday sought benefit of probation in a Delhi court, citing his long service to the nation and health reasons even as CBI demanded nothing less than seven years jail term for him and a hefty fine.

"I have been an MP for the last 30 years and I am a law abiding citizen. Considering the nature of the case, my age and clean antecedents, I should be given the benefit of probation," counsel for 67-year-old Masood told Special CBI Judge J P S Malik while arguing on the quantum of sentence.

CBI prosecutor V N Ojha, however, opposed his plea for probation, saying, "Rasheed Masood does not deserve anything less than seven years (in jail) and a hefty fine should be imposed because by nominating undeserving candidates including his own nephew, he had spoiled the career of meritorious students".

The prosecutor also said Masood is a person who is a "lawmaker turned into a lawbreaker" even after taking oath to abide by the Constitution which says all are equal before the law.

"He and the other two public servants convicted in the case should be given maximum punishment as the students who suffered nearly two decades ago cannot be compensated for," the prosecutor said.

The two other public servants convicted in the case are Gurdial Singh, a former IPS officer, and retired IAS official Amal Kumar Roy, the then secretary of Tripura Chief Minister Sudhir Ranjan Majumdar.

Earlier, in the first conviction after the Supreme Court struck down a law that provided immunity to MPs and MLAs from immediate disqualification, a Special CBI court held Rajya Sabha member Masood guilty in a case of corruption and other offences.

The provisions under which Congress MP Masood has been convicted can attract imprisonment upto seven years.

Masood, Minister of Health in the VP Singh government between 1990 and 1991, was held guilty of fraudulently nominating undeserving candidates to MBBS seats allotted to Tripura in medical colleges across the country from the central pool.

Special CBI Judge JPS Malik held Masood guilty of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating) and 468 (forgery). He has, however, been acquitted of the charge under Section 471 IPC (using as genuine a forged document).

Masood's conviction is the first case after the July 10 Supreme Court judgment that struck down sub-section 4 of Section 8 of Representation of the People Act, under which incumbent MPs and MLAs can avoid disqualification till pendency of the appeal against conviction in a higher court. The appeal has to be made within three months of the conviction.

Congress member in Rajya Sabha and a party working committee member, Masood is all set to be disqualified under the provisions of RP Act that disqualifies anybody who has been convicted under sections of various laws including the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.