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NEW DELHI: SC Monday stayed the conviction of NCP’s Manikrao Kokate’s in a cheating case, bringing relief to him as he was facing disqualification from the Maharashtra assembly after being convicted and sentenced to a two-year jail term, reports Amit Anand Choudhary.Kokate, who was holding sports and youth welfare ministry before his resignation from cabinet following his conviction in a 1995 cheating and forgery case, will not be able to join govt as SC restrained him from holding any office of profit post.”Conviction of the petitioner shall remain stayed to the extent that there shall be no resultant disqualification as a member of legislative assembly. However, that will not entitle the petitioner to hold any office of profit,” a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said in its order.The neta moved SC after his plea for staying conviction was rejected by Bombay HC, which had agreed to grant him bail in the case. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for him, pleaded that irreparable damage would be caused to him if conviction was not stayed as he would be disqualified from the assembly.SC said that issue raised by Kokate against his conviction needed to be examined and agreed to stay conviction. On Feb 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. But the session court in Dec upheld the conviction after which he had to resign from the cabinet.The case dates back to 1989-1992, involving a housing scheme reserved for EWS with an income limit of Rs 30,000, when Kokate applied for a flat meant for the poor by submitting false affidavits.
