A Patna court on Thursday awarded life imprisonment to Rashtriya Janata Dal Member of Parliament Pappu Yadav and former Member of Legislative Assembly Rajan Tiwari for the murder of Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Ajit Sarkar.

Special Central Bureau of Investigation Judge B M Sruivastava sentenced Pappu Yadav, Rajan Tiwari and another accused Anil Yadav to life imprisonment after finding them guilty under Sections 302, 307 and others of the Indian Penal Code.

Earlier this month, the court had completed the final hearing in the Ajit Sarkar murder case and fixed February 14 as the date for the pronouncement of its verdict.

Pappu Yadav, currently lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail, was brought to Patna for the pronouncement of the judgment. Yadav had urged the trial court to pronounce the judgment via video conferencing, but the court ordered him to be present on February 14.

During the trial, the CBI produced 61 witnesses in support of its case, while 27 witnesses were produced by the accused in their defence.

Sarkar, a legislator from Purnea, was shot dead by men allegedly acting on Yadav's orders on June 14, 1998.

Yadav was shifted to the high-security Tihar jail in 2005 from Patna after allegedly violating prison regulations during his stay in Beur Jail. Tiwari, a former legislator from Govindganj, is currently lodged in Beur Jail.