Shiv Sena’s Ramesh Mhatre, who thrashed doctors, gets bail days later

The prosecution had argued that doctors were involved in the “noble profession” of healing people and hence his bail plea should be rejected.

Soon after he was remanded to judicial custody, Mhatre’s lawyers filed a bail plea before the court with the investigating officer asked to give his say on the matter.

Mhatre’s lawyer Sanjay Dhanke said: “The police have argued that bail should not be granted in the matter as it would put the concerned doctor at risk. We have argued that certain conditions could be put in place and bail be granted.”

He added, “We have mentioned that he has one kidney and suffers from various ailments. We have further said that he did not act due to some personal animosity as he did not know the doctor but did so to help people who felt neglected.”

After hearing both sides the court granted bail after executing a bail bond of Rs 50000.

The incident occurred on July 6 after a dispute over the treatment of a pregnant woman after the doctors advised that she be shifted to another hospital as Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) beds at the facility were fully occupied.

Angered by this, the family of the patient contacted the Shiv Sena corporator and allegedly assaulted the doctors at the hospital. The corporator was later arrested along with three of his associates who were allegedly also involved in the attack.

The Shiv Sena has faced strong criticism over the incident from the Opposition leaders. On Thursday, the Central Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors observed a statewide black ribbon protest across government and semi government colleges and hospitals in protest against the protest.