Days after being detained for allegedly assaulting physicians and staff at a hospital in Dombivali, Shiv Sena councilor Ramesh Mhatre and a co-accused were granted bail by the Bombay High Court on Friday, provided that they remain out of Maharashtra until a charge sheet is filed and charges are framed.The case was transferred to a fast-track court in Kalyan after a panel of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad declared that the inquiry was almost finished and that the accused could not be imprisoned indefinitely.
“Rule of democracy is that the elected representative is by the people and for the people. If an elected representative is accused of assaulting his own voters, such a situation is bound to dent the fabric of democracy,” the bench said. It directed the accused to avoid contacting the witnesses and their relatives, or tampering with evidence. The bench warned of action if bail conditions are violated.
“After a charge sheet is filed, they [accused] may be allowed to enter Maharashtra. All the accused are directed to surrender their passports to the concerned magistrates…none of them would indulge in committing any offence of any nature whatsoever and would cooperate with the trial.”
The Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) was directed by the bench to provide police protection for the physicians and other victims. It further stated that if the three physicians refuse to work in light of the occurrence, no disciplinary action would be taken against them.
Only forensic reports were awaited, the court stated. The state was instructed to submit a charge sheet within ten days after obtaining the forensic findings. The trial court was directed by the high court to file charges within seven working days. In order to ensure that the trial continues without further delay, it cautioned both the prosecution and the defense against requesting needless adjournments.
On July 6, Mhatre, a KDMC council member, attacked physicians and nurses at the Shastri Nagar Municipal Hospital. Along with co-accused Ramesh Pawar, Pramod Nikam, and Akshay Karande, he turned himself in on July 19 and was taken into custody.
All four of the accused were granted bail by a Kalyan magistrate’s court on July 14. Due to 18 criminal complaints filed against Mhatre over a 36-year period, the high court took suo motu cognizance of the bail ruling and stopped it, stating that it was “unjustified.”
On July 26, the high court ordered that victims and witnesses be given security and that the investigation into the assault be turned over to a deputy police commissioner-rank official within two days.
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