Maharashtra: Arrest warrant against minister Kokate in 1995 cheating case

Legal and political trouble mounted sharply for Maharashtra Sports Minister Manikrao Kokate of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday, with a Nashik court issuing an arrest warrant against him in a cheating and forgery case dating back to the early 1990s.

The arrest warrant came a day after the Nashik sessions court upheld the two-year jail term awarded to Kokate by a magistrate’s court in February this year, intensifying speculation over his continuance in the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government and even his status as an MLA.

Earlier in the day, Kokate moved Bombay High Court challenging the sessions court order that upheld his conviction and sentence in the case. His lawyer Aniket Nikam mentioned the plea before a single bench of Justice R.N. Laddha, seeking an urgent hearing on the grounds that the conviction could cost Kokate his cabinet berth and Assembly seat.

While Nikam did not press for an immediate stay on the conviction on Wednesday, he argued that the sessions court itself had stayed the conviction even while upholding the magistrate’s findings. The high court said it would consider Kokate’s plea for suspension of conviction on Friday, 19 December.

In his appeal, Kokate contended that the sessions court had erred in upholding the magistrate’s order and that the conviction deserved to be quashed.

Even as the high court proceedings unfolded, the Nashik district and sessions court moved ahead in the original case. The complaint was lodged by former Maharashtra minister T.S. Dighole, who has since passed away. On Wednesday, his daughter Anjali Dighole-Rathod filed an application seeking Kokate’s arrest. The minister was not present for the hearing.

Acting on the application, sessions court judge P.M. Badar directed additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM) Rupali Nadvadia to take appropriate action. Following this direction, the ACJM issued an arrest warrant against Kokate, with Nashik police expected to initiate further proceedings.

The case traces its origins to the period between 1989 and 1992 and relates to a housing scheme meant for the economically weaker section (EWS), which at the time carried an annual income cap of Rs 30,000. According to the prosecution, Kokate and his brother Vijay were allotted two flats under the Low Income Group category on College Road in Nashik’s Yeolakar Mala area, using the chief minister’s 10 per cent discretionary quota.

The sessions court, which upheld the conviction on Tuesday, held that Kokate had “dishonestly induced” the state government into allotting him a flat meant for the poor by submitting false income affidavits. The judge relied on evidence including bank loans taken for grape cultivation and rabi crops, as well as records from the Kopargaon Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana, to conclude that Kokate was a “prosperous farmer” whose income was far above the eligibility threshold.

The court noted that Kokate applied for the flat in 1989 but was allotted the accommodation only in 1994. If the allotment process took years, the court observed, it was “incumbent upon him to inform the government” of his improved financial status and withdraw his application. Despite no longer qualifying under the EWS criteria, Kokate obtained the flat, the court said.

“Hence, I hold that by furnishing false income documents, he deceived the state government and dishonestly induced it to allot the flat to him under the scheme meant for the economically weaker section of the society,” the sessions court ruled, agreeing with the magistrate’s “finding of guilt” on core charges of cheating and forgery.

On 20 February this year, a magistrate’s court had convicted Kokate and his brother Vijay and sentenced them to two years’ imprisonment, also imposing a fine of Rs 50,000 each. The duo appealed the verdict, and a sessions court stayed the conviction on 5 March. However, Judge Badar on Tuesday upheld the conviction itself, setting the stage for Wednesday’s arrest warrant.

The conviction has triggered a sharp political row in Maharashtra, with opposition parties demanding Kokate’s immediate removal from the Mahayuti cabinet. Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad accused the Fadnavis government of shielding the minister, alleging a “different yardstick” for those in power.

“Action is taken within 24 hours when Opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi are convicted. Why is a different yardstick being applied here?” Gaikwad asked, adding that Kokate’s continued presence in the government reflected the “arrogance of power”.

Earlier on Wednesday, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar said he had not yet received a certified copy of the court order required to determine Kokate’s status as a legislator. Kokate was also absent from a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Fadnavis earlier in the day.

The latest developments come against the backdrop of earlier controversy surrounding Kokate, who was moved out of the agriculture portfolio and reassigned as sports minister months ago after videos surfaced of him playing rummy inside the Maharashtra Assembly during the monsoon session — an episode that had already placed his conduct under sustained opposition scrutiny.

With PTI inputs