NCP minister Kokate quit over old case, it has nothing to do with present govt: Bawankule

Pune, Dec 18 (PTI) Maharashtra minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule of the BJP on Thursday said the case due to which Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) minister Manikrao Kokate had to resign pertains to an old matter and was not related to the tenure of the present Mahayuti government.

Kokate resigned from the Maharashtra Cabinet following a court verdict upholding his conviction and a two-year jail term in a 1995 cheating and forgery case linked to a state government housing scheme, under which he was allotted a flat in his home district Nashik.

The NCP politician did not commit any irregularities while being a part of the present BJP-led government, Bawankule maintained.

"The case in which Kokate was convicted pertains to an old matter and does not relate to the tenure of the present government. Whatever happened earlier is the result of that matter. Since the court verdict has come now, it is applicable at present and, therefore, he had to tender his resignation. It would not be appropriate to say he committed any irregularities while being a part of the present government," he insisted.

On Tuesday, 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 filed decades ago. The court also issued an arrest warrant against him on Wednesday. PTI SPK RSY