Maharashtra minister sentenced to two years in jail in 1995 cheating case

The Nashik District Court on Thursday sentenced Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate and his brother Sunil Kokate to two years’ imprisonment for their involvement in a 1995 document tampering and fraud case, The Indian Express reported.

They were also fined Rs 50,000.

The court subsequently granted bail to Manikrao Kokate.

The minister, the MLA from Sinnar, is expected to challenge the sentence in the Bombay High Court. “I have obtained bail in the case and will file an appeal against the order,” he said.

Manikrao Kokate belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party faction led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

The Kokate brothers were held guilty of fraudulently acquiring flats in the Nirman View Apartment in Nashik’s Yeolekar Mala in 1995 under a government scheme by misrepresenting their income.

They acquired the flats by forging documents to falsely show that they belonged to the low-income group and their annual income to be below Rs 30,000, which enabled them to secure flats under the chief minister’s 10% discretionary quota.

Two other persons named in the first information report, Popat Sonawane and Prashant Govardhane, were acquitted by the court, The Hindu reported. They owned the flats which were transferred to the Kokate brothers.

The complaint in this case was filed by former Congress minister Tukaram Doghole, who died in 2019.

“No doubt, Manikrao Kokate being a minister…

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