Bail Stayed in Assault
Supreme Court Stays Bail for Corporator Accused of Hospital Assault
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The Supreme Court stayed the Bombay High Court’s bail order for Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre, accused of assaulting doctors and staff at a municipal hospital in Thane, and ordered him to surrender within three days. The bench said the medical fraternity serves the public and must not be attacked, admitted the Maharashtra government’s appeal, and noted a subsequent similar incident involving members of the same party. The alleged assault occurred during a dispute over treatment for a pregnant woman. Mhatre’s lawyer said the trial was underway and that Mhatre had been acquitted in 18 of the 19 cases cited; the court sought records of those cases. The High Court had granted bail to Mhatre and four co-accused and directed a time-bound trial.
Key Points
1
At the time the Supreme Court heard the appeal, two prosecution witnesses had testified; the woman doctor who filed the complaint was scheduled to testify on October 3. Mhatre’s lawyer said he had cooperated with the investigation and trial and that the proceedings had not been obstructed.
2
The Maharashtra government’s appeal argued that Mhatre’s prior cases were relevant to its request to cancel bail; his lawyer countered that the maximum sentence for the main offence was five years and that cancellation of bail required a higher legal standard.
3
The later incident cited by the Supreme Court involved an alleged assault on staff at a Palghar hospital over treatment of a 19-year-old injured during a Dahi Handi celebration. Police booked 17 Shiv Sena workers in connection with it.
4
The Bombay High Court had taken up the assault matter suo motu, with a bench led by then Acting Chief Justice R. V. Ghuge observing the seriousness of assaults on doctors and hospital staff.
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