Bail, jail, bail, then Supreme Court says ‘return to jail’: Last 3 months in Ramesh Mhatre’s life

On July 14, a local magistrate court granted bail to Ramesh Mhatre on medical grounds, observing that he had one kidney, suffered from health ailments, and that his physical presence was not required. Mhatre, who had been admitted to the Thane District Government Hospital while in custody, secured bail and was discharged immediately.

The incident triggered protests by doctors across Maharashtra, prompting the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to call a statewide strike from July 20.

Taking suo motu (on its own) cognisance of news reports, a Bombay High Court bench led by then Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V Ghuge (now CJ of Calcutta HC) held a special sitting on July 18 and stayed the bail order.

“Till the bail was not granted, he was hospitalised, and the moment bail was granted, he became fit to be discharged. That’s how it works,” the High Court orally remarked. The bench also noted that over the past 36 years, 18 criminal cases had been registered against Mhatre, with acquittals in 17 of them.

“In a case where accused Mhatre led a mob of around four more persons and attacked three doctors in a municipal hospital showing his fury… could not have been taken lightly by the Magistrate, more so, in the backdrop of his antecedents,” the bench held, directing him to surrender to the police. The court also appealed the doctors to reconsider the strike “in the larger interest of society and service to mankind.”

Mhatre surrendered on July 19 and was lodged at Aadharwadi jail in Kalyan. During subsequent hearings, the High Court extended the stay on his bail and orally remarked that the police should “protect citizens, especially the law-abiding, and not the accused,” adding that Mhatre appeared “more energetic than a 25-year-old” during the alleged assault.

On August 7, citing “the time spent in custody by the accused and substantial progress made in investigation,” the High Court granted bail to Mhatre and three co-accused, subject to conditions that they stay in Goa, report weekly to Anjuna police station and not enter Maharashtra.

“In a democracy, the principle is that an elected representative is by the people and for the people. If the elected representative is accused of assaulting his own voters, such a situation is bound to dent the fabric of democracy in this country and erode public confidence,” the High Court observed, while directing the setting up of a fast-track court in Kalyan.

The matter reached the Supreme Court after Mhatre challenged some of the High Court’s bail conditions, which he withdrew later, while the state government sought cancellation of his bail. On September 7, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta allowed Mhatre to withdraw his appeal, while expressing strong disapproval over repeated attacks on medical staff.

Observing a similar incident in Palghar involving the workers of the same political party over the treatment of a man injured during Dahi Handi celebrations, the bench remarked: “This is their modus operandi. These people do not deserve to roam on the streets even for a minute… A message needs to go out to everyone as a deterrent”. After the HC’s nudge, Maharashtra Police booked over 20 accused in the Palghar case.

Earlier this month, a Kalyan trial court framed charges against Mhatre and four others under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions Act, and he pleaded not guilty, paving the way for the trial.

On Monday, the Supreme Court’s Justice Vikram Nath-led bench cancelled Mhatre’s bail and ordered him to surrender within three days, noting that the “entire medical system was hindered” due to the incident and Mhatre remaining out on bail would be “counterproductive to the trial” in the case.

Directing Mhatre’s jail return, the SC stated, “The message should go out loud and clear that the medical fraternity cannot be touched. They serve people and cannot be attacked in this manner”.