India, Dec. 19 -- The Bombay High Court on Friday granted bail to former Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Manikrao Kokate in a 1995 cheating and forgery case, while suspending his sentence. The court granted him bail on a personal surety of Rs.1 lakh, citing the merits of the case and medical grounds, and stayed his arrest. However, it refused to stay his conviction, observing that prima facie evidence pointed to Kokate's involvement.

Justice R. N. Laddha, while passing the order, noted that Kokate had remained on bail throughout the trial before the magistrate's court and during the pendency of his appeal before the sessions court. The High Court also remarked that allowing a person convicted of a criminal offence to hold a cabinet p...