MUMBAI: The NCP minister Manikrao Kokate is in trouble after the Nashik District Session court upheld the order of the First Class court on Tuesday, confirming the two years’ imprisonment and fine of Rs 50,000 for falsifying the income proof documents.
The minister falsified the documents to get two swanky apartments in the Chief Minister’s 10 per cent housing quota.
The verdict of the district court is a big setback for Minister Kokate. If Kokate did not get respite by the Bombay High Court immediately, then he would have to lose his ministerial berth and would also have to face two years’ imprisonment.
The NCP minister would likely approach the Bombay High Court to protect himself from disqualification as a member of the Maharashtra Assembly.
Kokate was convicted in connection with the illegal acquisition of two flats under the Chief Minister’s discretionary quota. Kokate and his brother Sunil Kokate were convicted for their offences punishable under Sections 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 474 (possession of forged documents) and 34 (acts done by several persons with common intention).
The case against the Kokate was registered in 1995 on the complaint of former minister, late T S Dighole.
As per the prosecution complaint, Kokate and his brother were allotted two flats meant for the Low Income Group (LIG) on College Road in Yeolakar Mala area under the Chief Minister's 10 per cent discretionary quota.
To be eligible, they made false claims of belonging to the LIG category and not owning a house in the city. A case of cheating, forgery and other offences under the then Indian Penal Code was registered against the Kokate brothers and two others at Sarkarwada police station in Nashik.
NCP MLA Kokate might face disqualification as per the mandate in the Representation of the People Act, 1951, related to elections to the Parliament and state legislature and qualifications and disqualifications for membership of such houses.
As per Section 8 (3) of the said Act, “a person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of six years since his release.”