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Cheating case: Nashik court adjourns Kokate’s plea seeking stay on conviction to March 5

Kokate was convicted on February 20 on charges, including cheating and forgery, in a case pending over 30 years.

The sessions court in Nashik said the records from the magistrate court, which had convicted Kokate, are yet to be received and directed the court to send the records and proceedings to it. (Express Archive Photo)

A decision on an application filed by state Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate, seeking a stay on his two-year conviction in a cheating case, has been further adjourned to March 5. The sessions court in Nashik said the records from the magistrate court, which had convicted Kokate, are yet to be received and directed the court to send the records and proceedings to it.

Kokate was convicted on February 20 on charges, including cheating and forgery, in a case pending over 30 years. The magistrate court had found that Kokate and his brother had acquired two flats under the discretionary quota of the chief minister meant for the economically weaker, by fabricating documents.

He has filed a criminal appeal, which is currently pending hearing before the sessions court. His lawyers have sought a stay on the conviction, which will put on hold any consequences of being a convict, including disqualification as a member of the legislative assembly. The Representation of People Act has provision for disqualification of a person found guilty for not less than two years in a criminal case.

Meanwhile, the sessions court in Nashik on Saturday also rejected the intervention pleas of two persons who said that they wanted to intervene as citizens and voters. The court said that they had no locus standi to intervene in the proceedings. While one of them also sought time to bring documents on record claiming that Kokate had not given proper disclosure at the time of submitting his affidavit before the election commission, the court rejected the plea.

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