Rasheed Masood gets 4 years in jail, set to lose LS seat

Rajya Sabha member and Congress leader, Rasheed Masood, was today sentenced to four years in jail by a Delhi court in a corruption case, becoming the first MP to lose his seat after a recent Supreme Court judgement had removed the immunity for convicted lawmakers.
67-year-old Masood, who attains the dubious distinction of being the first lawmaker to be disqualified after the July 10 Supreme Court judgement, was immediately taken into custody by the court.
Special CBI Judge J P S Malik handed down the jail term to Masood after holding him guilty of fraudulently nominating undeserving candidates to MBBS seats allotted to Tripura in medical colleges across the country from the central pool as Health Minister in the National Front government of 1990. The court also imposed costs of Rs 60,000 on Masood.

Masood's conviction and sentencing is the first case after the Supreme Court judgement that struck down a provision in the Representation of the People Act, under which incumbent MPs and MLAs could avoid disqualification till pendency of the appeal against conviction in a higher court.
Yesterday, a court in Ranchi convicted RJD chief Lalu Prasad and JD(U) leader Jagadish Sharma, both Lok Sabha members, in a fodder scam case. Their sentencing is scheduled for October 3 following which they also face disqualification.