Rasheed Masood of the Congress could become the first member of Parliament to lose his Rajya Sabha berth after a special CBI court on Thursday found him guilty of corruption for fraudulently nominating undeserving candidates to MBBS seats in 1990-91 as minister of state (MoS). Mr Masood was minister of state for health and family welfare (independent charge) in the then V.P. Singh government.
On July 10, the Supreme Court had struck down a law that provided immunity to incumbent MPs and MLAs from immediate disqualification if convicted in any criminal or corruption cases. Mr Masood is likely to be disqualified under the provisions of the RP Act that disqualifies anybody who has been convicted under sections of various laws, including the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988.
Special CBI judge J.P.S. Malik found Mr Masood guilty of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating) and 468 (forgery). The court, however, acquitted him of the charge under Section 471 IPC (using as genuine a forged document).
The parliamentarian was accused of nominating undeserving candidates for the academic session of 1990-91 to MBBS seats allocated to Tripura from the central pool. Besides him, two top bureaucrats have also been found guilty.