Earlier on Wednesday, Kokate moved the Bombay High Court challenging the verdict. His lawyer Aniket Nikam mentioned the plea before Justice RN Laddha for urgent hearing following which the matter is set to be heard Friday.
In 1995, the NCP leader illegally obtained two flats in Nirman View Apartment in Nashik under the Chief Minister’s Freedom Scheme. Currently, Kokate remains at Lilavati Hospital following an illness.
An arrest warrant was issued by the Nashik district sessions court on Wednesday against the Kokate brothers for furnishing fake documents and showing a lower income to secure government flats from the 10 percent quota of the scheme.
“An arrest warrant is standard procedure after such a verdict. We are currently in the process of appealing to the High Court,” Kokate’s lawyer Avinash Bhide told ThePrint.
The FIR was filed in 1995 by Additional Collector Vishwanath Patil accusing the brothers of submitting false documents to secure flats meant for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) of the society.
The arrest application was filed by Anjali Dighole, daughter of former minister Tukaram Dighole, who had originally lodged the complaint. A former Congress leader, Dighole was a three-time MLA from Sinnar and was defeated by Kokate in 1999.
“I hold that .. the appellant No.1 (Manikrao Kokate) deceived the State Govt. and dishonestly induced it to allot a flat to him under the scheme meant for economically weaker section of the society having annual income less that Rs.30,000,” the judge said Tuesday.
“The same reasoning applies to appellant No.2, Vijay. He is the brother of the accused No.1 Manikrao. The record shows that he had submitted an application to MHADA for allotment of a flat under the EWS Scheme.”
Kokate joined the NCP in 1999 but was not given the ticket, following which he joined the Shiv Sena, contested and won from Sinnar in 1999, which he retained in 2004.
In 2009, he joined the Congress and was elected for a third time from Sinnar. He faced defeat in 2014 after he made a move to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), following which he rejoined the NCP and won his seat back in 2019. After the NCP split, he joined the Ajit Pawar faction and became an MLA for the fifth time in 2024.
ThePrint reached out to a spokesperson in the Ajit Pawar-led NCP through calls, but to no avail. This article will be updated as and when a response is received.
Under Section 8 of the Representation of People’s Act, the membership of the House is immediately revoked when a lawmaker is sentenced for two or more years. Yet, Kokate who was the agriculture minister at the time of his first conviction in February, was not asked to resign, pending the hearing in the sessions court.
Though there was strong demand from the Opposition for his resignation, Kokate continued as the Agriculture Minister till 31 July, following which the Mahayuti leadership shifted him to Sports and Youth Welfare and Minority Development, following repeated controversial statements about farmers. Kokate was also seen on camera playing an online rummy in the assembly during the monsoon session of the legislature.
The opposition parties have already come out to attack the ruling BJP and its allies after the decision by the court.
“The same justice that the government applied to Sunil Kedar’s MLA and Rahul Gandhi’s MP status, should be applied to Manikrao Kokate. If the government is shamelessly waiting for the high court to act, then that is treason against the Constitution,” said Ambadas Danve, member of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.
Nothing, Congress functionary Bunty (Satej) Patil alleged, was going to happen, as the state and Centre were behind the perpetrators. “Whether it is Shirsat or Kokate, money bags found or land scam deals, there is no minister left who has not been alleged of such crimes. The public should stop expecting the government to be alert or proactive,” he added.