Maharashtra minister Manikrao Kokate, brother get 2 years’ jail in 1995 EWS housing cheating case

NASHIK: Additional chief judicial magistrate Rupali Narwadiya on Thursday convicted and sentenced NCP's state agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate and his brother, Vijay, to two years of rigorous imprisonment for securing a flat each in 1995 under the state govt's 10% housing quota for economically weaker section by fudging documents to show less income.
Apart from sentencing two years RI for each of the five offences relating to cheating and forgery under Indian Penal Code (all sentences to run concurrently), the court imposed Rs10,000 fine for each of the five offences on each of the two convicts. The amount totals to Rs50,000 each.
The court also directed the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) and the Nashik deputy collector (urban land ceiling) to take measures to cancel the allotment of flats after the appeal period is over.
The court acquitted two other people tried in the same case, observing that there was no sufficient evidence to show that they had deceived govt by showing lesser incomes to secure flats. They later handed over the two flats to the Kokate brothers, the court observed.
On a plea moved later, the court granted bail to Kokate and his brother to enable them file an appeal against their conviction before a sessions court in Nashik. "We will examine the judgment once we get a certified copy of it and will soon file an appeal before the sessions court," Kokate's lawyer M Y Kale told TOI.
Kokate, who was in the court at the time of the pronouncement of judgment, later told reporters, "It's a 30-year-old politically motivated case. Then MLA and former minister Tukaram Dighole raised the matter, and a police complaint was registered against me by a govt official. I became good friends with the former minister later. But since the case was filed in a court of law by the govt, it went on and a decision came today. I haven't yet read the 40-and-odd-page judgment but we will certainly file an appeal before a superior court."
The state's case, as put up by assistant public prosecutor Poonam Ghodke, was that between Aug 9, 1989 and Nov 29,1994, the Kokate brothers and the two others had committed mischief and fraud with govt by showing lower income than the prescribed limit (below 30,000/- p.a.) to secure the flats at Nirman View Apartment, College Road in Nashik. They executed the documents, i.e. affidavits and income certificates by mentioning false contents of their income and induced the government for allotment of flats under the 10% reserved quota of the government which was for needy and economically weak people.
On Oct 13, 1995, then deputy collector (ULC) Vishwanath Bhaskar Patil lodged a complaint with the Sarkarwada police in Nashik against Manikrao, his brother and the two others. After investigation, the police filed a chargesheet on March 25, 1997. The trial against the four accused started on April 3, 2001.
Additional CJM Narwadiya, while referring to the deposition by nine prosecution witnesses and the defence arguments during the trial and the evidence on record, observed in her ruling, "The prosecution has proved beyond all reasonable doubt that the accused no. 1 (Manikrao) and 2 (Vijay) were not economically weak at the time of applying for allotment of flats in the 10% reserved quota of the govt."
The court considered the deposition by police patil Vitthal Khandekar that Shivaji Kokate, father of Manikrao, has 25 acre of land with income of more than Rs1 lakh per annum. Manikrao in 1996 was chairman of Sinnar Panchayat Samiti, Vijay Kokate was a contractor and both brothers were members of Kopargaon Cooperative Sugar factory where they supplied sugar cane.
The court also noted that as per the deputy collector, Manikrao Kokate had sought permission for a revolver in the past claiming that he had 40-50 labourers who he paid around Rs 9000 as overall payment per week based on a statement recorded on Jan 10, 1994.
"It may be safely presumed that a person having 40-50 labourers is not a person who can be considered economically weaker. The prosecution is at fault as it did not show this evidence to the Investigating Officer, but the accused must not be benefitted from such fault of prosecution," the court noted.
"The prosecution by examining the witnesses so also on the basis of documentary evidence successfully proved beyond all reasonable doubt that the accused no. 1 & 2 deceit the government by showing their income less than Rs. 30,000/- to avail of the benefit of 10% reserved quota for the residential flats, which were for the economically weak persons," the court said.
The court also noted, "The accused no.1 at the time of alleged incident was having post in political party so also, he is an advocate and now he is a Minister in Agriculture department, therefore such approach of accused no.1 for getting the flats in low rate by concealing the information regarding his income is highly dreadful."