NEW DELHI: The Bombay high court on Monday remarked that the local police had shown “favourable treatment” to Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre, who is accused of assaulting doctors at a hospital, and directed the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) of the concerned zone to investigate the alleged assault case.“After the incident, police showed a ‘rare respect’ for the accused. In fact, police officials obliged Mhatre and had sought permission from a local court to produce him via video conference for remand. They showed a rare respect for the accused,” PTI quoted a bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad as observing.“The DCP shall take over the probe as expeditiously as possible and ensure that all appropriate steps are taken to record statements of complainants, victims and witnesses by granting them adequate protection,” the bench said, directing the DCP to submit a status report on July 31.The bench also criticised Mhatre’s conduct both during the incident and after his arrest.“He is an elected corporator. He is in public life and has vowed to serve the public. Why then does he behave like this?” the high court asked.“We are surprised to see that a person who first goes around seeking votes from the public and, after getting elected, goes on assaulting the same people. This is very strange and counterproductive,” the judges observed.The court noted that Mhatre got himself admitted to a hospital after being remanded to judicial custody, claiming that his blood pressure was high. However, at the time of the alleged assault on doctors, he appeared to be completely fine, it observed.The bench further noted that after being granted bail, Mhatre immediately left the hospital, where he was welcomed by several supporters.Mhatre and his aides allegedly assaulted doctors and medical staff at a civic hospital in Dombivli in Thane district on July 6 after relatives of a pregnant patient alleged a delay in her treatment.A magistrate’s court granted Mhatre bail on July 15.Earlier this month, the high court took suo motu cognisance of the matter and expressed concern over the “gravity and seriousness” of the incident. It stayed the Kalyan court’s order granting bail to Mhatre, terming it “perverse”.Following the HC’s intervention, Mhatre surrendered before the police and is currently in judicial custody.Senior counsel Aabad Ponda, appearing for Mhatre, urged the HC on Monday to consider vacating its earlier order staying the bail and said strict conditions could be imposed on his client.“A lesson has been learnt, and a hard message has been sent across,” Ponda said, adding that Mhatre was willing to stay out of Maharashtra until the chargesheet in the case was filed.Senior advocate Ashok Mundargi, appointed by the court for assistance, submitted that Mhatre could be released on bail, but the investigation should be completed in a time-bound manner to ensure fairness.
