Mumbai: A Nashik district court on Thursday sentenced Maharashtra’s agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate and his brother Sunil Kokate to two years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 in a cheating case filed against them 30 years ago. Former minister Tukaram Dighole had filed a petition against them for allegedly showing lower income by using fake documents to get houses from the government’s 10 per cent quota scheme in 1995. The minister said he will challenge the order in the high court. His membership of the legislative assembly is also at stake.The Kokate siblings had obtained two flats in Nashik under the chief minister’s 10 per cent discretionary quota scheme after claiming they did not own flats and belonged to the low-income group (LIG). Assistant Public Prosecutor Poonam Ghotke stated, “After examining all the 10 witnesses, the court found the Kokate brothers guilty of claiming they had no flats of their own and using forged documents to claim that they were financially underprivileged.”Following the verdict by the Nasik court, Manikrao Kokate was granted bail. He could possibly attract disqualification as an MLA if he does not get any relief from the high court. The minister was present when the court delivered its decision. “I have decided to file an appeal against the verdict. We will do everything in accordance with the law….we will go to the High Court. I have been granted bail by the sessions court,” he said.NCP’s Maharashtra chief spokesman Anand Paranjape also said that Kokate will be approaching the Bombay High Court against the Nashik district court ruling. However, the rival NCP (SP) demanded that Kokate should resign following the district court verdict.
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