Congress Rajya Sabha member Rasheed Masood, who was found guilty by a special CBI court in three MBBS seat allotment cases, has been sentenced to four years in jail by a Delhi district court on Tuesday.

Masood will be disqualified as a Rajya Sabha MP and has been taken into custody. The police was ordered to take the convicted MP to Tihar Jail on Tuesday. The special CBI court also slapped a fine of ₹60,000 on Masood.

On 19 September, a special CBI court held the Rajya Sabha member guilty of fraudulently nominating undeserving candidates to MBBS seats allotted to Tripura in medical colleges across the country.

The CBI also held Gurdial Singh, the then Resident Commissioner Tripura and an IPS officer of Gujarat cadre, guilty of nominating some candidates for the academic session 1990-91.

Of the 11 MBBS seat allotment cases, Gurdial Singh was held guilty in six cases while retired IPS officer Amal Kumar Roy, Secretary to then Tripura chief minister, was guilty in five similar cases.

The CBI slapped a fine of ₹1 lakh each on former IPS Officer Gurudayal and former IAS officer AK Roy.

According to ANI, nine students have also been convicted and sentenced to jail for one year, in the case. All the convicted students have applied for bail in the CBI court.

The 66-year-old Masood carried out the fraud during his tenure as Minister of Health and Family Welfare between 1990 and 1991 in the VP Singh government at the Centre.

Special CBI court 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 been acquitted of the charges under Section 471 IPC (using as genuine a forged document).

Masood's conviction of the cheating, forgery and corruption charges was the first case after the 10 July Supreme Court judgement that struck down sub-section 4 of Section 8 of Representation of the People Act, under which MPs and MLAs could avoid disqualification till pendency of the appeal against conviction in a higher court.

The quantum of punishment under which the Congress MP was convicted, attracted imprisonment of up to seven years. Even if he was given a minimum jail term of two years, Masood would have been disqualified from the Rajya Sabha.

Another Member of the Parliament, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, was convicted on Monday in a fodder scam case by a CBI court in Ranchi.

(Video: 19 September judgement on Rasheed Masood)