Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate sentenced to 2 years in prison in 30-year-old fraud case

According to the charges, the Kokate siblings had claimed that they belonged to the low-income group (LIG) and had no other properties, which allowed them to secure flats under the chief minister’s 10 per cent discretionary quota. However, investigations revealed that they had falsified documents to receive these benefits.

The Nashik district and sessions court convicted the two brothers on Thursday, while two others named in the FIR were acquitted. Manikrao Kokate, who was present in court, said he would appeal the decision, adding that he had obtained bail in the case.

In a statement to the press, he said, “I have obtained bail in the case and will file an appeal against the order.”

This conviction has drawn further attention to Kokate, who has been embroiled in recent controversies, including his remarks about the Rs 1 crop insurance scheme for farmers. On February 15, during a meeting in Amravati, he 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 Rs 1 crop insurance scheme has been plagued by allegations of fraud, with reports indicating that over 400,000 crop insurance applications were rejected due to fraudulent claims. Kokate has acknowledged that some applicants misrepresented non-agricultural land as farmland to claim insurance benefits but stressed that no financial loss occurred, as no funds were transferred for the bogus applications.

Despite the ongoing issues with the scheme, Kokate insisted that the government would not scrap the initiative but would implement changes to address the irregularities. “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.

The decision by the Nashik district court has put Kokate in a difficult position, with both his ministerial and legislative positions now at risk. According to the law, any public representative who is sentenced to two years or more in prison cannot remain in office.

Kokate, a five-time MLA from Sinnar in Nashik district, is currently aligned with the NCP led by Ajit Pawar. He has had a varied political career, having previously been associated with the Shiv Sena and the Congress before eventually joining the NCP. Following the NCP split, Kokate chose to side with Ajit Pawar and was subsequently appointed agriculture minister in the new Devendra Fadnavis-led government, securing a prominent role in the cabinet.