MUMBAI: In a special sitting, the Bombay High Court on Saturday stayed a magisterial order granting bail to Shiv Sena corporator, Ramesh Mhatre, who was arrested for assaulting doctors and other staff at a civic hospital in Dombivali along with his associates on July 6. The court has ordered Mhatre to surrender to the police on Sunday.
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Mhatre and three accomplices were arrested on July 8, two days after they allegedly attacked two doctors and other staff members at the Shastri Nagar Municipal Hospital in Dombivali. The assault followed a complaint that a woman, nine months pregnant and with pregnancy-related complications, was denied admission because there were no beds available in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the hospital.
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A division bench of acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad stayed the order granting Mhatre bail, “considering the gravity and seriousness of the issue and the perversity” noticed in the lower court order. The court kept the order passed by the Kalyan court on July 14 in abeyance until further orders.
The bench has ordered Mhatre to surrender to the Vishnu Nagar police station, where an FIR has been registered against him and his associates, by 5:00pm on Sunday. It has given the police the liberty to take appropriate legal steps, including getting Mhatre’s immovable properties attached, if he fails to surrender and remains untraceable.
The high court has taken suo motu cognisance of the Kalyan court’s orders granting Mhatre bail despite the outrage over the assault on civic doctors. Apart from Mhatre, the court has also named the other accused, Ramesh Pawar, Pramod Nikam and Akshay Karande as respondents to the suo motu petition, which has been posted for further hearing on July 22.
The incident led to widespread outrage from the medical fraternity after a CCTV video of the assault went viral on social media. The Maharashtra unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has announced a 24-hour strike of medical services on July 20 to protest the assault and also threatened an indefinite suspension of medical services starting August 9 if the state fails to take concrete steps on their demands to ensure the safety and security of doctors and all healthcare workers.
Apprehending disruption of essential services, the court has appealed to the medical fraternity to reconsider their decision.
