NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the conviction of former Maharashtra minister Manikrao Kokate in a 1995 cheating and forgery case to let him continue as a member of the Maharashtra assembly, but barred him from holding any office of profit.
A special vacation bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justice Joymalya Bagchi passed the order on a petition filed by Kokate, a legislator of the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
The bench issued notice to the Maharashtra government on Kokate’s faction, adding that, “Meanwhile, the conviction of the petitioner shall remain stayed to the extent that there will be no effect of disqualification for him to continue as a member of the Maharashtra legislative assembly. However, he will not hold any office of profit.”
The Bombay high court had previously granted Kokate bail and stayed his jail sentence for two years but declined to stay the conviction that would have not only allowed him to remain a legislator but possibly, also return to the state cabinet. “Permitting a person convicted of a criminal offence (to hold an office like a cabinet berth) solely on account of a suspended sentence would cause grave and irreparable prejudice to public service,” the high court’s justice RN Laddha said in his December 19 order.
A five-term lawmaker, Kokate stepped down from the Maharashtra cabinet on December 18 following his conviction in a three-decade old case.
The Nashik court held that Kokate used a forged salary certificate to obtain four flats in a government housing scheme in Nashik meant for economically weaker section of society who had an annual income not exceeding ₹30,000.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi , who appeared along with advocate Samrat Krishnarao Shinde for the NCP leader, said Kokate did not have any past antecedents.
The complainant, represented by senior advocate Maninder Singh, opposed Kokate’s plea, pointing out that the petitioner did not show his agricultural income which his claim of an annual income less than ₹30,000 was a false declaration.
The bench, however, underlined that “a false declaration does not make it a case of forgery. There is a fundamental error in the trial court’s judgment of conviction. This requires examination.”
As per the prosecution in the trial court, Manikrao Kokate and his brother were allotted two flats meant for the Low Income Group (LIG) on College Road in Yeolakar Mala area of Nashik under the chief minister’s 10 per cent discretionary quota. To be eligible, they made claimed to belong to the LIG category.
At the same time, Kokate applied for a firearm licence in 1994, citing personal security concerns. He had claimed that he routinely handled large sums of cash while making weekly payments of ₹9,000- ₹10,000 each to 40-50 workers in his dairy business. This contradiction in the two affidavits led to the initiation of criminal proceedings.