Doctors assault case: Bombay HC stays bail granted to Shiv Sena corporator, asks him to surrender
Taking suo motu cognisance, the Bombay High Court on Saturday (July 18, 2026) stayed the bail granted by a lower court to Shiv Sena corporator
Taking suo motu cognisance, the Bombay High Court on Saturday (July 18, 2026) stayed the bail granted by a lower court to Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre, accused of assaulting doctors at a municipal hospital in Thane district, and asked him to surrender before the police by Sunday evening (July 19, 2026). A Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad, in a special sitting on Saturday (July 18, 2026), took suo motu cognisance of the news reports considering the "gravity and seriousness" of the issue. A court in Thane district on July 14 granted bail to Mhatre, a corporator of the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC). The politician and his aides were arrested for allegedly assaulting two doctors and nurses at a civic-run hospital in Dombivli on the night of July 6 after a family was advised to shift a newborn to another facility.
The HC stayed the order passed by the court in Kalyan granting bail to Mhatre, calling it "perverse". The Bench also said the magistrate court took the issue very lightly and did not even consider Mhatre's criminal antecedents. The HC directed Mhatre to surrender before the police by Sunday evening, failing which procedure for attaching his immovable properties can be initiated. The Bench also took note of the fact that in the past, 18 cases of assault were registered against Mhatre although he has been acquitted in 17 of them. "In a case where the accused (Mhatre) along with four others attacked three doctors in a corporation hospital showing his fury against them and severely beating them, we think that the magistrate (Kalyan court) has taken the issue very lightly and has not even considered Mhatre's criminal antecedents," the HC said.
Considering the overall impact of Mhatre's conduct and the effect it has had on medical professionals, the court said prima facie the magistrate ought not to have passed such an order. It also expressed its surprise with the fact that the magistrate did not even direct Mhatre to mark his presence before the concerned police station or direct him to cooperate with the police probe. "We are of the view that the order deserves to be stayed and kept in abeyance till further hearing," the HC said. The Bench also cancelled the bail granted to four other assailants who were booked along with Mhatre. While cancelling the bails granted to Mhatre and his associates, the judges appealed to the doctors not to resort to strike.
The BriefWire