MUMBAI: Three days after a sessions court in Nashik upheld his conviction in a 30-year-old cheating case, the Bombay High Court on Friday suspended the two-year jail sentence of former minister and NCP leader Manikrao Kokate and granted him bail. However, the court declined to stay his conviction, with Justice R N Laddha observing that “democracy requires probity in public life,” particularly given Kokate’s status as a minister.
Kokate had approached the high court on Wednesday, a day after his February 20 conviction was upheld. He was admitted to Lilavati Hospital the same day, stripped of his ministerial portfolios, and resigned on Thursday. The refusal to stay the conviction means the Assembly Speaker must decide on his disqualification within a fortnight.
While Speaker Rahul Narwekar was unavailable for comment, legislature officials said they were yet to receive a certified copy of the HC order. “We need clarity on how the sentence is suspended but the conviction is not stayed. After examining the certified copy, legal opinion will be taken on disqualification,” an official said.
Kokate may approach the Supreme Court of India for relief.
Arguing for Kokate, senior advocate Ravi Kadam contended that the 1995 cheating conviction—related to securing a flat under the EWS quota by allegedly showing lower income—was based on “conjectures and surmises.” He argued that where a sitting legislator is convicted, the case is exceptional because, without a stay on conviction, the constituency would be left unrepresented. Advocate Aniket Nikam assisted the defence.
Kadam pointed to the trial court’s observation that Kokate’s annual income “must have been over Rs 30,000,” arguing that such a finding was speculative and that the prosecution failed to prove any false declaration during the 1994 allotment. A Nashik magistrate had convicted Kokate and his brother Vijay in February; the sessions court upheld the conviction and sentence on Tuesday but acquitted Kokate of two other charges.
Public prosecutor Mankuwar Deshmukh maintained that the conviction was supported by evidence. Senior counsel Manoj Mohite, appearing for the complainant, backed the prosecution, submitting that the accused’s family owned about 25 acres at the time of the EWS application.
The high court noted that Kokate had been on bail during the trial and appeal and had not misused his liberty—an aspect considered while granting bail. Meanwhile, a Nashik police team led by ACP (crime) Sandeep Mitke, which was in Mumbai, returned after the HC order.
