File photo: Congress Rajya Sabha MP Rasheed Masood
New Delhi:
A court in Delhi will today announce the sentence for Rasheed Masood, a Congress parliamentarian who was found guilty of corruption last month.
The CBI, which investigated the case, has asked the judge to sentence Mr Masood, a member of the Rajya Sabha, to seven years in jail.
The agency's lawyer said in court today that "the law-maker has become a law-breaker."
Mr Masood is the first parliamentarian to be found guilty in a criminal case after the Supreme Court ruled that lawmakers stand immediately disqualified if they are convicted for offenses that carry a sentence of more than two years.
Mr Masood has been convicted of misusing his office as Health Minister in the 90s to grant admission in medical colleges to students who were not eligible. Among the group of students convicted is Mr Masood's nephew.
Mr Masood, who is 66, was Health Minister in the government headed by VP Singh in the early 90s.
He was found guilty of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery.