New Delhi, Nov. 30: The CBI is learnt to have decided to seek the death sentence for Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Shibu Soren when the court hears arguments on the sentence tomorrow.

Soren was convicted in the murder of his former personal secretary Shashinath Jha on Tuesday, but the sentencing was posted for today.

Additional sessions judge B.R. Kedia today deferred the pronouncement of sentence after he was informed that the former minister could not be produced before the court as he was in the intensive care unit (ICU) of AIIMS.

As the presence of the convict at the time of pronouncement of sentence is necessary, Kedia said he would hear arguments on point of sentence at 2 pm tomorrow.

The hearing, however, will take place only if doctors declare Soren fit for appearing.

It was learnt today that the agency has decided to appeal for the maximum punishment for Soren. Sources said the investigating bureau would argue for about two hours to prove that the case fell in the “rarest of the rare” category that merited the death penalty.

The court will decide whether to award a life imprisonment or death sentence to Soren, who resigned from the Union cabinet soon after his conviction, after hearing arguments on behalf of both sides.

AIIMS spokesperson Shakti Gupta said Soren had undergone six cardiovascular tests following complaints of chest pain. He is stable but would need to be observed for another two days, Gupta added.

Kedia had found Soren and four of his accomplices guilty of being involved in the murder of Jha in 1994.

The JMM leader, who was present in court at the time of the verdict, was immediately taken into custody but he had to be shifted to AIIMS as he complained of pain in chest.

The court found him guilty of being involved in the criminal conspiracy to kidnap and murder his secretary.

Though CBI did not get much support from scientific evidence, it relied on the testimonies of 46 witnesses.

The agency said Jha was abducted from Dhaula Kuan in the Delhi Cantonment area and taken to Ranchi, then in Bihar, on May 23, 1994, where he was killed and his body buried nearby at Piska Nagri. Jha’s skeleton was dug out from Piska Nagri near Ranchi on August 13, 1998.

Apart from Soren, the court found Nand Kishore Mehta alias Nandu, Ajay Kumar Mehta alias Dilip, Pashupati Nath Mehta alias Posho and Shailendra Bhattacharya guilty of being involved in the conspiracy.