Maharashtra minister Manikrao Kokate’s MLA status at risk after court upholds 2-year sentence in 1995 fraud case

With his political future now hanging in the balance, and uncertainty over whether he will be allowed to retain his seat until a higher court re-examines his conviction, the development marks yet another setback for the NCP leader, whose ministerial tenure has been punctuated by repeated controversies since he joined the Devendra Fadnavis-led government.

What the case is about

In February this year, a Nashik district court sentenced Kokate to two years’ imprisonment in a nearly 30-year-old case involving forgery and fraud related to the illegal allotment of flats under the chief minister’s discretionary quota.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Kokate. His brother, Sunil Kokate, was similarly convicted. The case dates back to 1995 and was filed by former minister Tukaram Dighole, who accused the Kokate brothers of forging documents to fraudulently acquire two flats in the Nirman View Apartment on College Road in Yeolekar Mala, Nashik.

Dighole, a three-time MLA and former Congress leader, was defeated by Kokate in the 1999 Assembly elections when Kokate won his first term as a legislator. Dighole passed away in 2019.

According to the prosecution, the Kokate brothers falsely claimed that they belonged to the low-income group and did not own any other property, enabling them to secure flats under the 10 per cent discretionary housing quota of the chief minister. Subsequent investigations found that the documents submitted in support of their application were forged.

Kokate challenged the conviction, but the sessions court upheld the district court’s verdict, though it set aside the order directing him to hand over the flat to the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA). He now has one month to approach the Bombay High Court.

Manikrao Kokate’s political career, controversies

A five-time MLA from Sinnar in Nashik district, Kokate has had a politically fluid career, having previously been associated with both the Shiv Sena and the Congress before aligning with the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the NCP. After the split in the NCP, Kokate sided with Ajit Pawar and was inducted into the Cabinet, initially holding the agriculture portfolio.

Controversy, however, has continued to follow him. His conviction has brought renewed attention to a series of recent rows, including remarks he made on the Re 1 crop insurance scheme. At a meeting in Amravati on February 15, Kokate said, “Even beggars don’t accept one rupee in alms, but the government is giving crop insurance for this sum and this too is being misused.”

The scheme has faced allegations of fraud, with officials saying that more than 4 lakh applications were rejected due to irregularities. Kokate acknowledged that some applicants had falsely shown non-agricultural land as farmland, but maintained that there was no financial loss as no payouts were made on rejected claims.

Despite the problems, he insisted the scheme would not be scrapped. “These rejected applications may have been turned down due to erroneous entries, but the scheme has been beneficial overall. Unfortunately, it was turned into a scam by certain elements,” Kokate said.

In April, he drew criticism again after accusing farmers of deliberately defaulting on crop loans in anticipation of loan waivers. “You take loans and then default for five to 10 years, expecting them to be waived. Farmers are not investing in their land,” he had said.

In July, Kokate was at the centre of another controversy after a video shared on social media by NCP(SP) leader Rohit Pawar appeared to show him playing an online card game on his phone inside the Assembly.

Kokate, however, denied the allegation. “I was not playing Rummy. I was trying to watch YouTube to find out what was happening in the Lower House. Someone had downloaded the game on the phone, and I was just trying to skip it,” he said. The explanation failed to quell the criticism, and on August 1, Kokate was removed from the agriculture portfolio and reassigned as the Sports Minister.