Public prosecutor Rajeev Mohan, on the other hand, sought the maximum punishment of 10 years for the convict saying it was the need of the hour for sending the right message to the society.

At the end of the arguments of sentence, the court put off the pronouncement of sentence till September 5. Nanda, grandson of former Naval Chief Admiral S M Nanda and son of arms dealer Suresh Nada, who was on Tuesday held guilty under stringent penal provisions of the IPC, faces a ten-year jail term as the maximum punishment, was seen fighting hard to control tears during the two-hour long arguments on sentence.

Advancing the arguments, Nanda's counsel Prem Kumar said, "He played an instrumental role in imparting computer education and teaching English to the inmates of Tihar jail number five. This fact should be considered while awarding sentence against him."

"It must not be forgotten that he belonged to an illustrious family, which not only contributed to the armed forces but also helped the Indian economy with its business activities," he said.

"Nanda's age at the time of incident and the exemplary record during the trial, even inside the Tihar jail, and his ordeal of being subjected to the protracted prosecution should also be considered," he told the court.