Dr Jaleel Parkar, the personal physican of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, told the Bombay High Court today that the late leader had been chronically ill since 2007 and a trained medical staff from Lilavati Hospital here accompanied him whenever he went out.

Parkar was being examined as a witness in the case related to a dispute between Bal Thackeray's two sons, Uddhav and Jaidev, over his will. Thackeray's last will, made on December 13, 2011, does not give anything to Jaidev, his estranged son, while bequeathing a major portion of his estate to the present Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.