A district court in Nashik on Thursday sentenced Maharashtra's agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate and his brother Sunil Kotake to two years of imprisonment in a 1995 forgery case, PTI reported. The court also imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on each.
The minister and his brother were accused of submitting fake documents to get flats under a government quota. The case was registered on a complaint of former minister, late TS Dighole.
Kokate could possibly attract disqualification as an MLA if he does not get any relief from the high court.
The minister told reporters later that the court had granted him bail, and he would move the High Court against the judgment. He also claimed that the case was filed by Dighole with whom he had “political enmity”.
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"I have decided to file an appeal against the verdict. We will do everything in accordance with the law....we will go to the High Court. I have been granted bail by the sessions court," he said, according to PTI.
During the hearing, the prosecution in the case alleged that Kokate and his brother were allotted two flats meant for the Low Income Group (LIG) on College Road in Yeolakar Mala area in Nashik under the chief minister's 10% discretionary quota.
{{/usCountry}}During the hearing, the prosecution in the case alleged that Kokate and his brother were allotted two flats meant for the Low Income Group (LIG) on College Road in Yeolakar Mala area in Nashik under the chief minister's 10% discretionary quota.
{{/usCountry}}To be eligible for the quota, they made false claims of belonging to the LIG category and not owning a house in the city, it was alleged.
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After Dighole approached the police, a case of cheating, forgery and other offences under the Indian Penal Code was registered against the Kokate brothers and two others at Sarkarwada police station, reported PTI.
Meanwhile, after the verdict, the NCP (SP) demanded that Kokate should resign.
Kokate is the second minister of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP in the BJP-led state government to find himself in trouble. NCP leader and cabinet minister Dhananjay Munde is facing the heat after his close aide was arrested in an extortion case related to the brutal murder of a village sarpanch in Beed district in December 2024.