Mumbai, Jul 22 "Let him be inside for some more time," the Bombay High Court said on Wednesday while continuing its stay to the bail granted to Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre who is accused of assaulting doctors and staff at a municipal hospital in Dombivli.
It also ordered preservation of the CCTV footage of the July 6 incident and the footage of Mhatre's own hospital stay after his arrest.
Mhatre, who surrendered on Sunday after his bail was stayed, submitted to the High Court that he was a 73-year-old man suffering from several ailments, and police did not need his custody.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad, however, said that in the video of the alleged assault Mhatre was seen behaving like a 25-year-old.
Continuing the stay to the magistrate's bail order, the High Court posted the matter for further hearing on July 27.
After the magistrate's court granted bail to Mhatre, a leader of the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the HC last week took suo motu (on its own) cognizance of the issue and stayed the order.
On Wednesday, advocate Sana Khan, the accused's lawyer, submitted that the corporator was 73 years old and had only one functioning kidney.
"His custody is not required. It was an emotionally charged situation at the hospital (where the alleged incident happened) and the patient could have died, he (Mhatre) went there only with the intention to help," Khan said.
The court, however, said that in the video of the incident, he is acting like a 25-year-old, beating the doctors. Mhatre, who claims to be a social worker, should be helping people instead of beating them up, it said.
"Let him be inside for some more time," the High Court remarked.
The bench directed the municipal Shastri Nagar hospital in Dombivli in neighbouring Thane district to preserve the CCTV footage of the alleged assault and keep it ready for the court's viewing.
It also ordered the Thane civil hospital, where Mhatre was admitted on account of 'chest pain' immediately following his arrest, to preserve the CCTV footage related to his hospital stay.
The bench heard an application by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in support of the doctors who were assaulted.
Senior counsel S U Kamdar, appearing for the IMA, said that in cases where doctors or hospital staff are assaulted, an institutional First Information Report should be registered within six hours. In the present case, an FIR was registered against Mhatre the next day, he pointed out.
The bench issued a notice to the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), which runs the hospital, and sought its response.
The court also expressed its displeasure with the police who decided that Mhatre would be produced before a magistrate for remand via video conference as he was admitted to hospital.
"We want to know who was this police officer who sought permission to produce Mhatre via VC. This officer has devised his own mechanism on how an accused should be produced after his arrest," the HC said, warning that it might summon the concerned Commissioner of Police if necessary.
Advocate General Milind Sathe stated that the officer sought permission only because Mhatre had collapsed in the police station and was hospitalised for high blood pressure.
But the magistrate refused permission, so he was produced physically in the court, Sathe said.
The judges, in a lighter vein, said their own blood pressure is always high in court.
"We expect police to protect people and all those who are law-abiding citizens. We don't want a situation that police give VIP treatment to accused persons," Acting Chief Justice Ghuge said.
On July 6, Mhatre and his associates allegedly assaulted a male doctor at Shastri Nagar Hospital after a family was advised to shift a newborn to another facility. He also allegedly hit a woman doctor on her hand. The viral video of the assault led to massive outrage.
The bench on Saturday also cancelled the bail granted to the four co-accused.
