Nationalist Congress Party minister Manikrao Kokate has resigned from the Maharashtra Cabinet following a court verdict upholding his conviction and two-year jail term in a 1995 cheating and forgery case, becoming the second NCP minister to quit this year.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads the NCP, on Thursday said Kokate sent his resignation letter to him which has been accepted and forwarded to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Ajit Pawar noted the resignation of his party and cabinet colleague, who held Sports and Youth Welfare, Minority Development and Aukaf portfolios in the BJP-led Mahayuti government, follows a court verdict and affirmed his party places supremacy of law above individuals.
The development comes two days after the Nashik district and sessions court upheld the order of a first-class judicial magistrate, confirming a sentence of two-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 50,000 against Kokate in the cheating and forgery case linked to a government housing scheme. The court also issued an arrest warrant against him on Wednesday.
The Deputy CM said Kokate's resignation letter has been accepted in principle keeping with the party's long standing stance that laws and rules are paramount.
"As per constitutional procedure, the resignation has been forwarded to the chief minister for further action," Ajit Pawar said.
He insisted public life must be rooted in constitutional morality, institutional integrity and respect for judiciary.
The NCP has full faith in legal process and remains committed to ensuring strict adherence to law and order in the state while safeguarding democratic values and public trust, said the party president.
Kokate has moved the Bombay High Court against the Nashik court order and the hearing on his plea will take place on Friday.
On Wednesday night, the MLA from Sinnar in Nashik district was divested of all his portfolios, which were later assigned to Ajit Pawar by Governor Acharya Devvrat on recommendation of Chief Minister Fadnavis.
Kokate has become the second minister from the NCP, a constituent of the ruling Mahayuti alliance, to resign in 2025 and it comes just a year after the BJP-led coalition rushed back to power on the back of massive mandate in the 2024 assembly polls.
His party colleague Dhananjay Munde resigned from the Cabinet in March after his close associate Walmik Karad was named the prime accused in the brutal murder of a village sarpanch in Beed district.
Legal trouble for Kokate started three decades ago, when a police complaint was lodged against him by former Maharashtra minister, late T S Dighole. Based on the complaint, a cheating and forgery case was filed against Kokate.
The episode dates back to 1989-1992, involving a housing scheme reserved for the economically weaker section (EWS) with an annual income limit of Rs 30,000, when Kokate applied for a flat.
The Nashik sessions court, which upheld the magistrate's conviction ruling, noted Kokate "dishonestly induced" the state to allot him a flat meant for the poor by submitting false income affidavits.
Citing bank loans for grapes and rabi crops, as well as records from the Kopargaon Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana (sugar factory), the judge noted Kokate was a "prosperous farmer" whose income far exceeded the eligibility threshold.
The court held Kokate did not fall within the economically weaker section category, which required the applicant's income not to exceed Rs 30,000. Despite this, he obtained a flat under the said scheme.
On February 20 this year, a magistrate court in Nashik convicted Kokate and his brother Vijay and sentenced them to two-year imprisonment in the forgery case, prompting them to approach the sessions court, which stayed their conviction on March 5.
However, the sessions court on Tuesday upheld the conviction handed to minister Kokate by the magistrate's court.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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