Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad has been sentenced to 3 and half years in jail in a fodder scam case. In addition, he has also been slapped Rs 5 lakh fine by the Ranchi court.

Lalu heard the sentencing from jail via video conferencing. His son Tejashwi Yadav said that they will approach the high court and also apply for bail after studying the sentence.

The judiciary performed its duty. We will go to the High Court after studying the sentence and apply for a bail: Tejashwi Yadav, RJD on #FodderScam pic.twitter.com/17zxjyTQ2d &; ANI (@ANI) January 6, 2018

Other accused Phool Chand, Mahesh Prasad, Bake Julious, Sunil Kumar, Sushil Kumar, Sudhir Kumar and Raja Ram have also been sentenced to 3 and half years in jail and Rs 5 lakh fine each.

After a two-day delay, the Ranchi Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court today pronounced the quantum of sentence for the RJD chief.

Soon after the sentencing, Lalu took to Twitter and posted that he will never practise BJP's formula and would rather die.

Rather than practising BJPï¿½??s Simple Rule - ï¿½??Follow us or We will Fix youï¿½?ï¿½. I will die happily fixing myself for Social justice, harmony & equality. - Lalu Prasad Yadav (@laluprasadrjd) January 6, 2018

Special CBI judge Shivpal Singh announced the sentence after hearing arguments on quantum of sentencing. The final sentencing order copy is 24 pages long.

JDU leader KC Tyagi welcomed the judgement and called it historic.

We welcome this judgement, this will prove to be a historic decision in Bihar politics. It is the end of a chapter: KC Tyagi,JDU on #LaluPrasadYadav sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for #FodderScam pic.twitter.com/ODvPFhQXEA January 6, 2018

On Friday, Lalu Prasad sought a minimum punishment citing health issues. His lawyer, Chitaranjan Sinha, also confirmed that the RJD leader was dealing with a lot of health issues.

Prasad, in his plea, had mentioned, "I have no role in this scam directly; consider minimum punishment keeping in view my age and health grounds."

The CBI court had convicted Lalu Prasad and 15 others in the fodder scam case on December 23. The court had acquitted six accused including former Bihar Chief Minister and JD (U) leader Jagannath Mishra.

The court had convicted Prasad for offences of cheating with criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Under the sections, Prasad can be sentenced to a minimum jail term of one year and maximum of seven years.

Lalu has been convicted in one of the cases of the fodder scam, wherein Rs. 900 crore from the Bihar exchequer was siphoned off under the pretext of purchasing fodder for livestock, during the '80s and '90s.

With inputs from ANI

Watch | Fodder scam: Court sentences Lalu Prasad Yadav to 3 and half years in jail, fines him Rs 5 lakh