Maharashtra Minister moves High Court after arrest warrant, hospitalised hours later

Manikrao Shivaji Kokate, Maharashtra Sports Minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party leader, challenged his conviction and two-year jail term in a 30-year-old cheating and forgery case linked to a housing scheme for the economically weaker section (EWS). The Bombay High Court is scheduled to hear his plea on Friday. The Nashik court upheld Kokate's conviction and issued an arrest warrant after he failed to appear, escalating the risk of him losing his Cabinet berth and Assembly seat. Kokate argues that the lower courts erred by considering his income in 1994 instead of 1989, when eligibility was determined. The prosecution alleged that Kokate misrepresented his income to obtain flats under the EWS quota. The case has drawn criticism from Opposition parties who demand his disqualification and removal from office.