India, Dec. 18 -- It's not only Manikrao Kokate who hopes the Bombay High Court will rule in his favour on Friday. NCP chief Ajit Pawar too is hoping for a favourable ruling, but his compulsions are purely political. Pawar will wait to see how Kokate's case unfolds in court before taking a call on whether or not to drop Kokate from the cabinet.

On Wednesday, Kokate was divested of his portfolio as sports and minority affairs minister but allowed to retain his ministerial berth, after a Nashik court issued an arrest warrant against him in a cheating and forgery case.

Word in the NCP is that Pawar would prefer to spare Kokate rather than find a replacement. But what if the high court, which will hear Kokate's appeal on Friday, does not ru...