A city court on Tuesday sentenced Congress Rajya Sabha MP Rasheed Masood to four years in prison in a corruption case relating to medical college seats during his tenure as health minister in the National Front government of 1990.
Masood,who was also fined Rs 60,000,became the first parliamentarian to be sentenced after the Supreme Court verdict on July 10 mandating that convicted MPs and MLAs shall immediately lose their seats on being sentenced. Apart from losing his Rajya Sabha seat,Masood will be barred from contesting elections for the next 10 years.
Along with the 67-year-old Masood,retired IAS officer Amal Kumar Roy and retired IPS officer Gurdial Singh were also sentenced for four years on the same charges of corruption,criminal conspiracy,cheating and forgery,while allotting medical seats across the country to undeserving candidates.
Two hours after the court passed the sentence,Masood,Singh (69) and Roy (80) were taken to jail. I am innocent… hundred per cent innocent, Masood told the media as he was led away to jail.
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The nine candidates who were aided by Masood and the two bureaucrats in bagging the MBBS and BDS seats reserved for students from Tripura were sentenced to one year imprisonment and fined Rs 40,000. All of them were granted bail by the court.
Earlier,the lawyers for Masood and the two retired bureaucrats argued for leniency,pleading that they be released on probation due to their advanced age and a long list of ailments.
The prosecution,however,argued that Masood and the two bureaucrats be given seven years in prison the maximum term under the Prevention of Corruption Act and a consecutive sentence since deserving students of the Northeast had been denied their due by those who are entrusted to work for their betterment.
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On September 19,Special CBI Judge J P S Malik had convicted Masood and 11 others in the MBBS-BDS scam.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
First published on: 02-10-2013 at 12:27:42 am
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