Wed Mar 05 09:34:08 UTC 2025: ## Maharashtra Minister’s Conviction Stayed
**Nashik, March 5, 2025** – A Nashik court today stayed the conviction of Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate in a 1995 cheating and forgery case. Kokate and his brother, Sunil Kokate, were sentenced to two years imprisonment last month by a Magistrate Court for allegedly submitting false documents to obtain government-subsidized housing. The brothers appealed the decision, and the Sessions Court granted a stay on the conviction today.
The original case, filed by the late Minister T.S. Dighole, alleged that the Kokate brothers falsely claimed to be members of the Low Income Group (LIG) to secure two flats under the Chief Minister’s discretionary quota. While the Kokate brothers were convicted, two other accused were acquitted in the Magistrate Court’s February 20 ruling. The detailed order from the Sessions Court is yet to be released.
First Piper 