Finally the Bombay High Court intervened into the matter of the deteriorating health of the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and responding to the petition filed by the former Goa Forward member Mr. Trajano D’Mello, The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Tuesday directed state Chief Secretary to respond to a petition demanding the health status of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar be made public.
According to the Indian Express online portal, Justices R M Borde and Prithviraj K Chavan made the above observations while hearing the petition of Mr. D’Mello, seeking the health bulletin from the government, saying Parrikar has not been seen in public for months and that there were doubts on the status of administration.
According to the sources, In his petition, Trajano told the court that “it’s been reported Manohar Parrikar is suffering from terminal pancreatic cancer”, and that he fears the administrative decisions are not the chief minister’s alone anymore.
The report further states that Mr. D’Mello has asked for the Panel of experts to review the health status of the CM and release bulletin on a regular basis as the “chief minister’s post has to inspire confidence”.
Meanwhile, the prosecution had sought for the time to file its response in the matter stating that the Chief Secretary was traveling and was expected to resume office on Wednesday.
Justice Bondre has taken a serious note of the response of prosecution and shown his disapproval for the time and asked for the immediate response from the state government on the above matter.
According to the sources, the government trying all the possible ways to maintain the privacy on the Parrikar’s health status by way of challenging the petition on the ground of “Chief Minister’s fundamental right to the privacy” But the court did not listen to any excuses and made it clear before them that all aspects can be discussed only after they respond to the petition.
It may be recalled that following his return from the AIIMS in New Delhi on October 14, Mr. Parrikar has not made any public appearance. He has also not returned to his official residence nor resumed office at the secretariat building.
Earlier this week, Agriculture Minister Vijai Sardesai had said that the Chief Minister “is in good health and also watching English movies”.
The clouds on the Parrikar’s health issue will get clear once the state government files response to the petition and till the time privacy remains maintained.
