Mumbai: Maharashtra’s Agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate and his brother Sunil Kotake were on Thursday sentenced to two years of imprisonment in a 1995 forgery case.
Pronouncing the verdict, a district court in Nashik also imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on both of them, reported PTI.
Kokate, who is an NCP (Ajit Pawar) MLA, and his brother were accused of submitting fake documents to acquire flats under a government quota. A case against them was registered on a complaint of former minister, late TS Dighole.
“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,” the minister said, adding that the case was filed by Dighole with whom he had “political enmity”.
If he does not get relief from the high court, Kokate could be disqualified as an MLA.
Kokate is the second minister of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP in the BJP-led state government to get into trouble. Cabinet minister Dhananjay Munde is also facing the heat as his close aide was arrested in an extortion case related to the murder of a village sarpanch in Beed district in December 2024.
