A Mizoram court on Monday sentenced the state’s only Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Buddha Dhan Chakma and 12 others to one year in prison in a corruption case, PTI reported.

The convicted persons were found guilty of embezzling Rs 1.37 crore from the Chakma Autonomous District Council between 2013 and 2018. The convicts were, however, granted interim bail on the same day, PTI reported.

The council is an autonomous body that represents the Chakma community. It exercises legislative, executive and judicial powers over allotted departments within its territory. The council has its headquarters in Lawngtlai district and nearly half of the Chakma population in the state comes under its jurisdiction.

At Monday’s hearing, Special Judge Vanlalenmawia also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each convict.

Besides Buddha Dhan Chakma, the other convicted persons include five incumbent members of the district council and seven former members, according to Northeast Today.

The court held them guilty of abusing their official powers and withdrawing the money from the special assistance fund meant for development work.

Buddha Dhan Chakma denied the charges against him and said he will challenge the sentence in the Gauhati High Court.

“The judge has given us interim bail for 90 days,” he told The New Indian Express. “We have to appeal in a higher court within such time.”

Notably, the case against Buddha Dhan Chakma was filed on the basis of a complaint filed by BJP state unit President Vanlalhmuaka in 2013, who was then the Hindutva party’s state general secretary, according to The Hindu.

At the time, Buddha Dhan Chakma was a member of the Congress, which was also governing the Chakma Autonomous District Council.

In 2017, Buddha Dhan Chakma was elected to the state Assembly on a Congress ticket and became a Minister of State. He resigned in 2017 and subsequently joined the BJP. He was elected as an MLA in the 2018 assembly elections.