Mumbai, Dec. 22 -- The Supreme Court stayed the conviction of Ajit Pawar-led NCP MLA and former Maharashtra cabinet minister Manikrao Kokate on Monday, in a 1995 cheating and forgery case, giving him a temporary respite.
Consequently, Kokate will not be disqualified as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Maharashtra.
The relief from the Supreme Court came days after the Bombay High Court refused to stay Kokate's conviction, but suspended his two-year jail sentence and granted him protection from arrest even as it heard his petition against a verdict given by the Nashik district sessions court. This would mean that at least for the present, Kokate will not lose his Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) post and he cannot be arrest...