Tue Mar 18 16:59:38 UTC 2025: ## Bombay High Court Rejects Challenges to Stay on Maharashtra Minister’s Conviction
**Mumbai, March 18, 2025** – The Bombay High Court today refused to intervene in a Nashik sessions court’s decision to stay the conviction of Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate on charges of cheating and forgery dating back to 1995. The High Court cited the inappropriateness of interfering at this stage and adjourned the matter until April 21.
Kokate and his brother, Sunil Kokate, were convicted in February by a magistrate court and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for submitting fraudulent documents to obtain government-subsidized housing. The Nashik sessions court subsequently stayed the conviction pending appeal, a decision challenged in the High Court by Anjali Rathod, daughter of a former minister, and Shivaji Shinde Patil, a political rival who lost to Kokate in the Sinnar Assembly election.
Rathod argued that Kokate’s conviction affects the integrity of elected officials and that the prosecution’s failure to appeal the original sentence indicated a compromise of the case. Patil alleged that Kokate submitted false affidavits during the election campaign.
Kokate’s lawyer argued that the petitioners lacked standing to challenge the Nashik court’s decision. The High Court, in its ruling, noted the Nashik court’s consideration of the cost of a potential re-election if Kokate were disqualified. The High Court issued notices to the Maharashtra government and the Kokate brothers.
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