Former Telecom Minister Sukhram was today awarded five years imprisonment by a Delhi Court after being convicted of taking Rs three lakhs as bribe to give a lucrative contract to a private firm in 1996.

Special CBI Judge R P Pandey also imposed a fine of Rs 4 lakh on 86-year-old Sukhram, who held the Telecom portfolio in P V Narasimha Rao''s Cabinet

The CBI prosecutor said Sukhram will be taken into custody and sent to jail to serve the punishment as the sentence exceeded a three-year jail term and convicts in these cases are not granted statutory bail.

Sukhram was held guilty yesterday under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Various offences under which he has been convicted entail a maximum sentence of 7 years jail term.