A special Central Bureau of Investigation court yesterday sentenced former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra to five years in prison in a fodder scam case and slapped a fine of Rs1mn on the former and Rs500,000 on the latter.
The special CBI court judge S S Prasad pronounced the judgment related to the fraudulent withdrawal of Rs336.7mn from the Chaibasa Treasury in 1992-1993.
The court has convicted 50 people and acquitted six in the case.
This is third case in the fodder scam in which the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief has been convicted, while it is the second for Mishra.
The judge pronounced the quantum of sentence at 2pm. 
Earlier at 11am, Lalu Prasad was brought to the CBI court from the Birsa Munda Central Jail, where he has been lodged since January 6 following his conviction on December 23, 2017. He has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail in the fodder scam case related to the Deoghar Treasury.
Of the 50 convicted in the Chaibasa treasury case, six are politicians, three former IAS officials, including former Jharkhand chief secretary Sajjal Chrkravarty and others.
The convicted also included four women, who were suppliers in the fodder scam and each of them were awarded three years imprisonment and a fine of Rs50,000 fine each.
There were a total 76 accused in the case, of whom 14 died during trial while three turned CBI approvers, two admitted to their crime and one is absconding.
After convicting the accused the CBI court asked whether argument on quantum of sentence should take place yesterday itself or another date fixed.
Lalu Prasad’s lawyer requested to hear the argument yesterday itself and for a minimum punishment citing health grounds.
In this case, the CBI had filed its chargesheet in 2001.
Speaking to reporters, Lalu Prasad’s son Tejashwi Yadav said: “This is not the final court. We will move the high court.”
Tejashwi Yadav, former deputy chief minister and younger son of Lalu Prasad, told media that if needed the party will approach the Supreme Court for justice. “We will go to the apex court for justice for Lalu, who is the people’s hero and icon of social justice.”
Tejashwi Yadav said: “Lalu lives in the hearts of crores of people, not only in Bihar but across the country and abroad. Lalu may be behind the bars after being framed under conspiracy by his rivals, mainly the BJP and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is also JD-U president. RJD will go to the people because their decision is bigger than any decision.”
The RJD chief was convicted in the fodder scam case for the first time in 2013 and was awarded five years imprisonment.
The multi-million fodder scam case surfaced in Bihar in the 1990s.
A Patna high court directive ordered the case probe to be handed over to the CBI. The allegation against Lalu Prasad is that he ignored the scam reports in his capacity as finance minister.
Lalu Prasad is facing a total of six cases in the fodder scam and he has been convicted in three.
Trials in two cases are ongoing in the Ranchi CBI court and in one case trial is underway at Patna.