Former Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate was accused of securing a flat in a government scheme for the economically weaker section by submitting false affidavits about his income. File.
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI
The Supreme Court on Monday (December 22, 2025) stayed the conviction of NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Manikrao Kokate in a 1995 cheating and forgery case linked to a government housing scheme.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi orally expressed a tentative view that there was a “fundamental error in the conviction itself”.
The Bombay High Court, on December 19, had granted bail to Mr. Kokate while suspending his two-year jail term. However, the High Court had refused to suspend his conviction noting that prima facie evidence pointed to Mr. Kokate’s involvement. The NCP leader had moved the High Court after a Sessions Court had upheld the conviction determined by a Magistrate court.
On Monday (December 22), senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, for the former Minister, said his client had no criminal antecedents, was a five-time MLA, a former Minister and the incident dated back to when Mr. Kokate, who was also a legal practitioner, started his career in law.
Issuing notice to the State of Maharashtra, the Bench directed the conviction of Mr. Kokate would remain stayed to the extent that he would not be disqualified as an MLA. The court clarified that the former Minister would not be entitled to hold any office of profit.
The NCP leader was accused of securing a flat in a government scheme for the economically weaker section (EWS) by submitting false affidavits about his income. Citing bank loans for grapes and rabi crops, as well as records from the Kopargaon Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana (sugar factory), the Magistrate’s court had concluded that he was a prosperous farmer whose income far exceeded the eligibility threshold.
Senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for a party opposing Mr. Kokate and who was described by Mr. Rohatgi as a “political rival” who had no role whatsoever in the case, submitted that the NCP leader had not declared his agricultural income.
“False declaration does not make a document a forgery. There is a fundamental error in the conviction itself,” Justice Bagchi observed orally.
Chief Justice Kant said this was only a tentative view, the court would hear the case in detail after re-oepning. Eom
Published – December 22, 2025 02:37 pm IST
