The Supreme Court on Monday, expressed sharp concern over a fresh assault on doctors in Maharashtra, even as it took up a plea filed by Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Sukrya Mhatre challenging the conditions attached to his bail in an earlier hospital assault case.
A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta noted that this was not an isolated episode, pointing to a pattern of similar incidents involving people from the same political background.
Background of the Case
Mhatre had been arrested in July after he and his associates allegedly assaulted doctors and hospital staff at a Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation-run hospital in Dombivli. A trial court granted him bail, but the Bombay High Court took suo motu notice and stayed that order.
Weeks later, the High Court lifted the stay and allowed his release, but only under strict conditions, including a direction to stay out of Maharashtra and a fast-tracked trial timeline. Mhatre approached the Supreme Court against these conditions, while the state separately sought cancellation of his bail altogether.
Court's Observations
When the matter came up, the bench referred to a similar attack on doctors reported the previous day in Palghar. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Mhatre, clarified that different individuals were involved. The bench responded that its concern was with the ideology behind such attacks, not the identity of the accused.
"Same ideology. How can this be justified?" Justice Nath remarked, describing the repeated targeting of medical staff as a law-and-order concern.
The bench also questioned Rohatgi's objection to a time-bound trial, asking what was wrong with an expedited process.
Decision
Mhatre eventually chose to withdraw his plea against the High Court's bail conditions. The Court then turned to the state's separate appeal seeking cancellation of his bail, issuing notice to Mhatre and granting him three weeks to respond.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on September 28.
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