Goa government demands more time to submit reply on Parrikar's health status

The Panaji Bench of the Bombay High Court on Thursday adjourned for the third time the hearing of a petition seeking clarity on the health status of ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

The state government has sought more time to respond to a notice issued by the court last month to the state Chief Secretary to file an affidavit specifying Parrikar's health status.

Speaking to reporters in Panaji on Thursday, Rohit Bras de sa, advocate for the petitioner Trajano D'Mello, said that the High Court had directed the state advocate general to file a reply by December 7, while adjourning the matter for hearing on December 11.

"Today is the third time they are asking for an adjournment. Now the Court has directed them to file their reply by tomorrow, that is December 7. The matter is coming up on December 11," de sa told reporters.

D'Mello, in his petition filed earlier this month, had sought directions to state Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma to evaluate the former Defence Minister's health by a panel of expert doctors and release the report in the public domain.

Parrikar is suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer and has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and Delhi for nearly nine months.

He returned from New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences on October 14 and has not attended any official meeting or function outside his private residence.

The Opposition, as well the ruling coalition's allies, have been demanding the Chief Minister's resignation, claiming that the administration has come to a standstill due to his absence.

Ever since Parrikar's health started deteriorating there has been no health bulletin, as demanded by the Opposition, forthcoming from the Chief Minister's Office, barring several informal intimations to the media, which suggested that he was suffering from "indigestion" and "mild pancreatitis".