Congress leader Ashish Deshmukh has written a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, demanding dismissal of party minister Sunil Kedar from the state cabinet while alleging that the latter got his lawyer friend appointed as government pleader in a case in which he is an accused.

The lawyer was head of the state Congress legal cell and hence, cannot fight such case as it amounts to "conflict of interest", claimed former MLA Deshmukh in his letter dated August 22.

He said Congress leader Kedar and 10 others were accused in the case of alleged irregularities worth about Rs 150 crore in the Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank in 2002.

The hearing in the case was now in the last stage and Kedar, citing various reasons in court, was delaying the case since last 19 years, claimed Deshmukh, whose party currently shares power with the Shiv Sena and NCP in the state.

He further alleged that Kedar had got a lawyer friend appointed as government pleader "with an aim to not plead his case strongly to make it possible for him to get acquitted".

Deshmukh demanded cancellation of the lawyer's appointment as government pleader in the case and dismissal of Kedar from the state cabinet.

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