Ranchi, May 7 (IANS): A CBI court in Ranchi Monday awarded four to seven years imprisonment to 40 persons convicted in a fodder scam case and also slapped fines ranging from Rs.25,000 to Rs.2 crore.

The CBI court had pronounced judgment in RC 31 A/96 May 3, which is related to the fraudulent withdrawal of more than Rs.47 crore from the Doranda treasury of Ranchi in the early 1990s. There were a total of 111 accused in the case. Some of them died during the course of trial and some of them turned approver.

The CBI court had last Thursday convicted 69 people and acquitted 16 others in the case.

The CBI court had also awarded one to three years imprisonment to 29 accused and slapped fines between Rs.25,000 and Rs.2 lakh May 3. The quantum of sentence against the remaining convicts was pronounced Monday.

Nearly 1,200 people, including officials and suppliers, have been convicted in different cases of the fodder scam.

Former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra are accused in five cases related to the scam. Their trial is on in CBI courts in Ranchi. Lalu Prasad had to quit the Bihar chief minister's post in 1997 after an arrest warrant was issued against him.

The fodder scam hit the headlines in the late 1990s in Bihar, where officials and politicians were accused of illegally withdrawing crores of rupees of public money in the guise of purchasing cattle fodder.

A total of 61 cases were filed in the scam and 53 were transferred to Jharkhand after it was carved out from Bihar in 2000.

The different CBI courts in Ranchi have passed judgment in 43 cases.