New Delhi, Dec. 23 -- The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the conviction of former Maharashtra minister Manikrao Shivaji Kokate in a three-decade-old cheating and forgery case and clarified that he shall not face any disqualification as an MLA. The court further directed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader not to hold any office of profit as it admitted his appeal, observing that the trial court order convicting him in the case had committed a "fundamental error". "A false declaration does not make it a case of forgery. There is a fundamental error in the trial court's judgment of conviction. This requires examination," a special vacation bench of CJI Surya Kant and justice Joymalya Bagchi said. The decision comes as a great relief to Kokate, a five-time MLA, who stepped down as a cabinet minister following a Nashik court order of December 16 convicting him in a three-decade old case. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment. The Nashik court held that Kokate used forged salary certificate to obtain four flats in a government housing scheme in Nashik meant for those with annual income less than Rs.30,000.P3...