After the issuance of an arrest warrant against him by a Nashik district court on Wednesday in a 30-year-old case, Maharashtra sports minister Manikrao Kokate submitted his resignation on Wednesday.
The NCP minister was convicted of cheating and forgery in connection with the acquisition of two apartments under the chief minister's housing quota. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar will now control the sports ministry along with the finance and excise ministry.
Sources said that Kokate was admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai complaining of chest pain. He has approached the Bombay High Court in a bid to get a reprieve. If his bail is rejected or the hearing is delayed, he will be arrested. He will also be disqualified as an elected representative and banned from contesting elections for the next six years.
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader Prakash Ambedkar alleged that the ruling party and its machinery, including police, are helping Kokate evade the arrest warrant of the court so that he can approach the high court and get a reprieve.
Kokate had earlier approached the district court against the judgment of the lower court. However, the district court refused to change the verdict and instead upheld the junior court's order of two years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 50,000.
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) of the Indian Penal Code. The case against them was registered in 1995 on the complaint of former minister TS 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 Indian Penal Code was registered against the Kokate brothers and two others at Sarkarwada police station in Nashik.
Kokate will face disqualification because as per the Representation of People Act, 1951, “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.”