Jailed Rashtriya Janata Dal lawmaker Mohammed Shahabuddin was on Wednesday granted bail by Patna High Court in an Arms Act case.

Justice Shivakirti Singh granted regular bail to the controversial Lok Sabha member from Siwan in connection with the case registered at Hussainganj police station in Siwan district against him in 2001 for illegally possessing sophisticated firearms.

Shahabuddin will, however, not be released as he is serving life sentence for abducting and murdering a CPI-ML activist Chotelal Gupta on May 7, 1999.

A special court had on May 8 last year convicted him of the crime and awarded life imprisonment. He was also awarded imprisonment for various durations in four other cases.