MUMBAI: A day after the Supreme Court took note of the assault on doctors and staff at a private hospital in Palghar, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Palghar superintendent of police (SP) to appear before it, after being informed that the police had not taken any “serious steps” in investigating the incident.
Appearing for the Indian Medical Association, advocate Sandeep Kamdar also informed the bench that the Supreme Court had also taken notice of the Palghar incident. Things are going from bad to worse. Same group of people. Again assaulting doctors. A message should go, and it should be a deterrent for others in the society. The court then questioned the prosecution about the steps taken by the police in the case. Additional public prosecutor Shreekant Gavand replied that he did not have instructions from the police regarding the case and sought time.
A division bench of justices AS Gadkari and Kamal Khata issued the summons after being told about the incident while hearing a suo motu plea into a similar assault that occurred at a civic hospital in Dombivli in July, in which Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre is an accused. Kamdar told the high court that although a case was registered in the Palghar incident, the police had taken “no serious steps” in the investigation. The apex court, while hearing Mhatre’s plea challenging his strict bail conditions on Monday, had said, “These people don’t deserve to roam on the streets. There was another incident yesterday in Palghar.
The bench then posted the matter for further hearing on Wednesday and directed the Palghar SP to remain present before it along with the case papers.
