Assault on doctors in Thane: SC says HC fully justified in taking suo motu cognisance, staying bail
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the Bombay High Court was “fully justified” in taking suo motu cognisance and staying the bail granted by a trial court to Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre, accused of assaulting doctors at a municipal hospital in Thane district in July.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Augustine George Masih and Sandeep Mehta also observed that those attacking doctors do not deserve bail. The observations came from the bench which was hearing the pleas, including the one filed by Mhatre, challenging the orders of the high court.
Mhatre, a corporator of the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), has challenged the conditions imposed by the high court while granting bail.
On July 18, taking suo motu cognisance, the high court had stayed the bail granted by the lower court and asked Mhatre to surrender before the police. Later, on August 7, the high court granted bail to Mhatre and ordered that the trial be fast-tracked and completed in a time-bound manner. The high court had also granted bail to three other accused in the alleged assault case that had triggered a massive outrage.
During the hearing before the apex court on Tuesday, one of the counsel appearing for the petitioners argued that the order passed by the high court on July 18 was wrong. “This is a case where the high court is fully justified in taking suo motu cognisance and staying the bail,” the bench said.
“Those who don’t have any respect for people from the medical fraternity, they don’t deserve it,” it observed.
The bench said that doctors, including a lady doctor, were assaulted and the video of the incident was viral. “Imagine the trauma of the person when a mob attacks. You can go inside a hospital and hit any random person,” the top court asked. The counsel appearing for the Maharashtra government said they would also file a petition challenging the grant of bail.
The bench posted the matter for hearing on September 7. On July 6, Mhatre and other accused gathered at the hospital and allegedly assaulted the doctors after an argument over the purported delay in the treatment of a woman patient. The incident took place at Shastri Nagar Hospital after family members of the pregnant woman accused hospital staff of delaying treatment. The court in Thane on July 14 granted bail to Mhatre but the high court on July 18 stayed the order, calling it “perverse”. On August 7, the high court granted bail to Mhatre and some other accused in the case and imposed strict conditions on them.
It had also ordered them to stay outside Maharashtra until the chargesheet in the case is filed.
