India, March 2 -- The Nashik sessions court on Saturday adjourned the hearing on Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate's plea seeking a stay on his two-year sentence in a cheating case to March 5. The court stated that the records from the magistrate's court, which had convicted Kokate, were yet to be received and directed the lower court to send the relevant documents.

Kokate, 67, was convicted on February 20 on charges of cheating and forgery in a case that dates back over three decades. The magistrate's court found that Kokate and his brother, Vijay Kokate, had fraudulently acquired two flats under the chief minister's discretionary quota-meant for economically weaker sections-by submitting fabricated documents.

Following his convicti...