A special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Ranchi on Monday sentenced Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav to jail for five years in the Rs 139.35-crore Doranda treasury case in the fodder scam, ANI reported.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 60 lakh on him.

The court had convicted Yadav and 74 other persons in the case on February 15. Twenty-four accused persons were acquitted.

The alleged fodder scam, exposed in 1996, pertains to the embezzlement of around Rs 1,000 crore from the state exchequer for the purchase of fictitious medicines and fodder for cattle. Yadav was the chief minister of the state at the time.

He has already been convicted in four other cases related to the scam. They pertain to alleged fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore and Rs 33.13 crore from the Chaibasa treasury, Rs 89.27 crore from the Deoghar treasury and Rs 3.76 crore from the Dumka treasury.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal chief has completed three-and-a-half-years of his total jail sentence of 14 years in the fodder scam cases.

Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav said that the party will challenge the decision in High Court, ANI reported.

“I will not comment on the court verdict,” he said. “This is not the last judgement. High Court, Supreme court are there. We are hopeful that the judgement of the lower court will change in High Court.”

A total of 170 persons had been accused in the Doranda case, according to PTI. Out of them, 55 died, seven became government witnesses, two admitted to the charges against them, and six persons are absconding.

The main accused persons are Prasad, former MP Jagdish Sharma, the then Public Accounts Committee Chairperson Dhruv Bhagat, former Animal Husbandry Secretary Beck Julius and Animal Husbandry Assistant Director KM Prasad.