Bombay High Court grants bail to NCP leader Manikrao Kokate in 1995 cheating case

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday granted interim bail to suspended Maharashtra sports minister and NCP MLA Manikrao Kokate and also suspended his two-year sentence in the 1995 cheating and forgery case.The Bombay High Court bench Justice RN Laddha granted the bail to Mr Manikrao Kokate against Rs1 lakh surety.The HC however refused to stay 30 years 30-year-old conviction in cheating and forgery case against Kokate, noting that prima facie evidence pointed to his involvement. The court also upheld the charges framed by the Nasik district session court and junior court.  During hearing, Kokate’s counsel Ravi Kadam argued that Kokate was admitted to Lilavati hospital in Bandra, where he underwent an angiography, and was scheduled to have an SOS angioplasty on Friday afternoon. However, Public prosecutor Mankunwar Deshmukh opposed Kokate’s bail plea.“Permitting a person convicted of a criminal offence (to hold a cabinet position) solely on account of a suspended sentence would cause grave and irreparable prejudice to public service,” said the court.In his order, Justice R N Laddha noted that the NCP leader was on bail throughout the trial before the magistrate’s court and also during the pendency of the appeal before the session’s court.Mr Kokate has approached the High Court challenging a Nashik district sessions court order and seeking bail along with suspension of the two-year sentence awarded to him in a housing fraud case.On February 20, a magistrate court in Nashik district convicted Manikrao Kokate and his brother Sunil Kokate, sentencing them to two years’ imprisonment for submitting forged documents to obtain two flats under the Chief Minister’s Housing Scheme.The Nashik Sessions Court, on March 5, had suspended the sentence and stayed the conviction. However, on December 16, the Sessions Court confirmed the two-year sentence, holding the brothers guilty of fraudulently acquiring flats under the Chief Minister’s housing quota.Following this, Kokate moved the High Court on December 17, challenging the conviction. In the interim, he has sought suspension of the sentence and bail.The case dates back to 1995, when former minister Tukaram Dighole filed a petition alleging that Manikrao Kokate and his brother had cheated the authorities and committed forgery to secure two flats meant for the economically weaker sections. The petition alleged that despite having a high income and owning around 25 acres of fertile, irrigated land, the brothers submitted forged income documents to avail themselves of the government quota flats.



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