How Kokate can remain as minister after conviction in forgery case: Congress

Mumbai, Mar 1 (PTI) Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar on Saturday demanded to know how Maharashtra agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate, convicted in a forgery case, can remain in his post.

A magistrate’s court had earlier held Kokate and his brother guilty of submitting fake documents to obtain flats under government quota and jailed them for two years.

A sessions court in Nashik subsequently suspended the jail sentence handed to the duo till there was an order on their appeal seeking stay. The court on Saturday adjourned till March 5 its verdict on the minister’s plea for stay on his conviction and sentencing.

Wadettiwar said the Budget session of the state legislature is scheduled to begin on March 3 and wondered how Kokate can remain as minister at this juncture.

“This is the first time in the history of Maharashtra that a lawmaker who has been handed a prison sentence will be present as a minister in the legislative assembly,” Wadettiwar said.

The court decision on the NCP minister’s plea has been adjourned till March 5 and he cannot hold the position of the state’s agriculture minister, asserted the Congress leader.

“The budget session is starting on Monday. How can he participate in it as a minister since he has been convicted? It is a matter of research why his MLA status has not been cancelled yet. But a convicted person cannot remain in the post of a minister,” he said.

The Congress leader said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should seek Kokate’s resignation. Kokate should not be involved in the House proceedings as a minister, he said.

“What will a minister convicted in a corruption and document tampering case do for the benefit of farmers,” Wadettiwar asked.

According to court papers, the case against Manikrao Kokate and his brother Sunil Kokate was originally registered in 1995 based on a complaint by the former minister, the late T S Dighole.

The duo was allotted two flats meant for the Low Income Group (LIG) under the chief minister's 10 per cent discretionary quota. The flats were located on College Road in Yeolakar Mala, Nashik. The prosecution alleged that to qualify, they falsely claimed to belong to the LIG category and declared that they did not own any houses in the city.

Following Dighole's complaint, a case was registered at Sarkarwada police station under charges of cheating, forgery, and other offences under the Indian Penal Code against the Kokate brothers and two others. PTI MR NR

Source: PTI