Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Friday fast-tracked their trial and granted bail to Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre and three other accused who were behind bars for allegedly assaulting doctors, including a woman, at Dombivli’s Shastri Nagar Municipal Hospital on July 6. All four accused are to remain outside Maharashtra till the criminal trial begins.Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad imposed the stringent condition after Mhatre’s senior counsel Aabad Ponda submitted that for his release, the 73-year-old, who has “learnt a lesson”, has offered to reside in any other state till the filing of chargesheet.The four accused, who were housed in a Kalyan jail, after release will shift to Goa temporarily. Mhatre gave the address of a north Goa resort, while Ramesh Pawar, Pramod alias Prakash Nikam and Akshay Karande, represented by advocate Sana Raees Khan, would be at a guesthouse, not far. “Mhatre will have company,” the ACJ said in jest.The HC framed a timeline for the criminal prosecution. It directed that the voice and video samples be sent to the state forensic lab in three working days. The report is to be submitted in 15 days from or by Aug 22, post which, in 10 days, the chargesheet is to be filed, and then within five days, the court should frame charges — the last pre-trial step. The HC directed the state to appoint within 15 days a lawyer with “large experience” as special public prosecutor as the case is “very important’’ and specifically directed that such SPP should not be replaced without the court’s nod.The endeavour should be to complete trial in three months once charges are framed, the HC said.ACJ Ghuge, dictating the order in open court, said, “In a democracy 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.”Police had arrested Mhatre on July 8 for allegedly slapping and punching a doctor and assaulting a resident medical officer. A local court granted him bail on July 14, while he was in a hospital. He was released, but on July 18, the HC took up the matter suo motu and put a stay on the bail order for all four, directed Mhatre to surrender. He did so on July 19.The HC had, in its July 18 order, said, “…in the labour ward of Shastri Nagar Municipal Hospital, Dombivli, a lady doctor and two male doctors were physically brutally assaulted by persons, namely, Ramesh Mhatre, Ramesh Pawar, Pramod alias Prakash Nikam and Akshay Karande… There has been an uproar from the masses… to the beating of doctors on duty.’’ And had said the crime was “more grave because a lady doctor was also assaulted and it is reported that she has resigned out of fear”.Senior counsel S U Kamdar for Indian Medical Association (IMA), which had given a strike call and withdrawn it after the HC suo motu took up the matter, said the female doctor as well as the first informant doctor, be given police protection. Both have tendered their resignations, which the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation hadn’t accepted, the HC was informed. The court asked the municipal corporation to ensure they are protected.Public prosecutor Shishir Hirey, on videoconferencing, and additional public prosecutor K V Saste said chargesheet would be filed soon, but three witness statements are yet to be recorded before a magistrate and would be done soon.Senior counsel Ashok Mundargi had earlier submitted that the trial be expedited to ensure that common citizens are assured that the system works, especially in high-profile cases. The HC thus directed its registry to appoint, in a week, a judge from Kalyan courts to preside over a fast-track court in the case.State government shall ensure that adequate police protection is granted to the victims and the witnesses whenever required during the investigation or the trial, the HC directed.Bail conditions imposed:– The accused cannot tamper with the investigation and won’t influence the witnesses, before or during trial when they are permitted to stay in their own homes– They won’t leave India without prior permission of the court– Mhatre will surrender passport, other three said they don’t have a passport– They should not commit any similar offence and should not prolong or delay the trial– Neither the defence nor prosecution should seek unnecessary or trivial adjournments
