Ranchi, Feb 22 (IANS) Former Bihar Minister Illiyas Hussain and four other accused were awarded five years imprisonment while a contractor was sentenced to seven years in jail in connection with a coal tar scam case by a special CBI court on Friday.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court of Anil Kumar Mishra had reserved the judgement on Tuesday after hearing was completed in the 22-year-old case. 

"Former Bihar Minister Illiyas Hussain was awarded five years imprisonment and contractor D.N. Singh was awarded seven years imprisonment. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 20 lakh on both of them," lawyer Arvind Singh told reporters.

Between 1994 and 1996, 3,266 metric tonne of coal tar was purchased for road construction work and in 1997 the Rs 1.57 crore scam surfaced. 

At the directive of the Patna High Court, the case was handed over to the CBI, which lodged an FIR in 1997.