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Quantum of sentence to decide Rao's next step

"The petition for appeal is ready, but it will be filed after pronouncement of the quantum of sentence by the trial court," Anand told reporters at the Delhi Court complex.

Asked whether the petition for appeal would be filed soon after pronouncement of the sentence, he said, "It depends upon what the quantum of sentence will be."

"If the sentence will be less than three years, then we can file a bail application before the trial court itself, which will be our first priority," he said.

As per the law, the trial court has the jurisdiction to hear bail application in that eventuality, "Otherwise, we will move the high court. It all depends on the situation that will emerge from the sentence order," he said.

Special judge Ajit Bharihoke, who had convicted Rao and his former cabinet colleague Buta Singh on finding them guilty of bribing four former JMM Members of Parliament - Shibu Soren, Simon Marandi, Suraj Mandal and Shailendra Mahato - on September 29, had deferred argument on the quantum of the sentence for October 11.

The trial court, however, had acquitted nine other accused, including former Union ministers Capt Satish Sharma and Ajit Singh, former Haryana and Karnataka chief ministers Bhajan Lal and Veerappa Moily respectively, giving them the benefit of doubt as the Central bureau of Investigation failed to bring enough evidence against them.

PTI

The JMM bribery case: The full coverage

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