Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar on Wednesday said it was embarrassing to have a convicted minister in his cabinet and hinted that minister Francisco Pacheco could be dropped soon.Archives and Archaeology Minister Pacheco's conviction in a 2006 assault case was upheld by the Supreme Court on Monday.Asked at a media briefing at the state secretariat if it was embarrassing to have a convicted minister in his cabinet, Parsekar said: "Obviously. It is but natural."Pacheco, an MLA from Nuvem, has a string of cases against him related to extortion, assault, bigamy, money laundering, etc. He was booked in July 2006 for assaulting Kapil Natekar, a junior engineer in Goa's power department, in his own cabin.Pacheco, who was sworn-in as a minister during a cabinet expansion in November last year, on Wednesday filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a review of the judgment by Justice F.M.I. Kaifulla and Justice Shiva Singh.
The chief minister also said the Supreme Court's dignity had to be upheld and that a decision on dropping Pacheco from the cabinet would be taken after meeting the minister personally.Parsekar said he would keep the "dignity and honour" of the Supreme Court, but because of a promise made to Pacheco that a decision on his future will be taken only after meeting him, he was compelled to wait."I also want to keep my word with him. He has said he will come, I will wait for him," Parsekar said.The chief minister said there was no chance of his sentenced cabinet colleague misusing office, because Pacheco was not in Goa.Goa's BJP-led coalition government comprises of Pacheco's Goa Vikas Party (GVP), the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and Independent legislators.BJP has 21 MLAs in the 40-member Goa legislative assembly, a simple majority, while the other coalition partners - the GVP has two and the MGP has 3.