In a significant development, the Bombay High Court on Friday suspended the two-year prison sentence handed to former Maharashtra minister Manikrao Kokate in a cheating and forgery case linked to a government housing scheme for the economically weaker sections. The court also granted bail to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader.
Court's Ruling and Bail Conditions
While suspending the sentence and granting bail, a single bench of Justice R N Laddha refused to stay Kokate's conviction. The court cited strong prima facie evidence of his involvement in the offence. The order emphasized that allowing a convicted person to hold a cabinet position solely because the sentence was suspended would cause "grave and irreparable prejudice to public service."
The High Court deemed it appropriate to grant bail considering the short duration of the two-year sentence and noted that Kokate had been on bail throughout the trial in the magistrate's court and the subsequent appeal proceedings in the sessions court. The court directed Kokate to deposit a sum of Rs one lakh as surety for his bail.
Background of the EWS Housing Scam
The core of the case dates back to the period between 1989 and 1992 and revolves around an Economically Weaker Section (EWS) housing scheme which had an annual income ceiling of Rs 30,000. The prosecution alleged that Kokate, a former sports and youth affairs minister, fraudulently acquired a flat under this scheme by submitting false income declarations.
Investigations and court proceedings revealed evidence that Kokate's actual income far exceeded the scheme's limit. The magistrate's court found proof of substantial earnings through bank loans taken for grape cultivation and rabi crops. Documentation from the Kopargaon Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana further indicated his ineligibility for the EWS flat.
Legal Proceedings and Immediate Fallout
The High Court's order came after the Nashik district and sessions court upheld Kokate's conviction. Following this verdict, Kokate resigned from his ministerial position in the Maharashtra cabinet on Thursday night. Nashik police had subsequently arrived in Bandra, Mumbai, late Thursday to execute an arrest warrant against him.
During the bail hearing, Kokate's lawyer, Ravi Kadam, informed the court that his client was admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Bandra for an angiography, with an urgent angioplasty scheduled for Friday afternoon. The public prosecutor, Mankunwar Deshmukh, opposed the bail application. The High Court ultimately accepted Kokate's revision petition challenging the sessions court's verdict, leading to the suspension of his sentence and release on bail.
