Stressing the need to protect doctors and other medical professionals from attacks, the Supreme Court on Monday cancelled the bail granted to Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Sukrya Mhatre in the alleged assault of doctors and hospital staff at a municipal hospital in Dombivli, and directed him to surrender within three days.
After hearing a challenge filed by the Maharashtra government, the bench of justice Vikram Nath and justice Sandeep Mehta stayed the Bombay High Court order granting bail to Mr Mhatre. It also made it clear that the case had implications beyond the individual accused.
“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,” the bench observed.
The Supreme Court also took note of the broader context of alleged attacks on medical staff in Maharashtra and referred to a similar incident involving workers of the same political party after the Mhatre episode.
Senior counsel Siddharth Dave, appearing for Mr Mhatre, opposed the State’s plea for cancellation of bail and argued that the matter was already at the trial stage.
He told the bench that two witnesses had been examined and that the complainant, a woman doctor, was scheduled to depose on 3 October 2026. There is no obstruction to the trial, Mr Dave submitted, pointing out that Mhatre had already spent time in custody and was cooperating with the proceedings.
The senior counsel also stressed that the Maharashtra government was seeking cancellation of bail rather than challenging an initial order of release, and therefore a higher threshold had to be met.
The bench, however, took a broader view of the allegations. “Medical fraternity serves the people. They cannot be attacked in this manner,” justice Mehta observed.
Mr Dave agreed that attacks on doctors were a matter of concern but maintained that the case would ultimately have to be decided on the evidence produced during trial.
The Supreme Court thereafter granted leave to the state’s appeal, stayed the Bombay High Court's bail order and directed Mr Mhatre to surrender within three days.
The counsel for the Maharashtra government also relied on Mr Mhatre’s criminal antecedents while seeking cancellation of bail.
The Court was told that Mr Mhatre had been involved in 19 criminal cases, including the present matter.
Mr Dave disputed the significance of the previous cases, saying they were politically motivated and that Mhatre had been acquitted in 18 of the 19 cases cited against him.
The bench directed that records relating to those cases be called for. “Call for the records of those cases also,” the Court said.
The bench also noted that the trial had already commenced and that the High Court had directed that it be completed on a fast-track basis. The Supreme Court did not interfere with that direction.
The case relates to an alleged assault at the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation's (KDMC's) Shastri Nagar municipal hospital in Dombivli on 6 July 2026.
According to the prosecution, Mr Mhatre and the other accused allegedly confronted doctors and hospital staff following a dispute over the treatment of a pregnant woman.
The incident reportedly followed doctors' advice to transfer the patient because all neonatal intensive care unit beds were occupied. The prosecution alleges that an argument followed and that doctors and nurses were assaulted.
Mr Mhatre and four other accused — Pramod Nikam, Ramesh Pawar, Akshay Karande and Sadhana Karande — have been charged in connection with the incident.
A Maharashtra court recently framed charges against the five accused after police filed a 1,832-page charge-sheet. Mr Mhatre has pleaded not guilty.
The accused face charges under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to assault and causing hurt, obstructing or assaulting a public servant, unlawful assembly and rioting, common intention, criminal intimidation and intentional insult. Charges relating to the dignity or modesty of a woman have also been invoked.
They have additionally been booked under Sections 3 and 4 of the Maharashtra Medical Practitioners Act and provisions of the Maharashtra Police Act concerning violations of orders imposed to maintain public order.
Mr Mhatre was arrested two days after the 6th July incident.
A sessions court granted him bail on 14 July 2026. The Bombay High Court subsequently took suo motu cognisance of the incident and stayed the bail order during a special sitting on 18 July 2026. The High Court also transferred the investigation to a senior police officer.
On 7 August 2026, the High Court eventually granted bail but imposed stringent conditions. Among them was a direction that Mr Mhatre remain outside Maharashtra until the charge-sheet was filed.
The High Court also directed that the trial be assigned to a fast-track court and completed within a prescribed timeframe.
Mr Mhatre stayed in Goa while the restriction was in force. After the charge-sheet was filed, the condition ceased to operate and he returned to Maharashtra and appeared before the trial court.
The state subsequently approached the Supreme Court seeking cancellation of his bail.
The Supreme Court had previously expressed concern over repeated allegations of attacks on doctors and hospital staff in Maharashtra.
On 7 September 2026, the apex court had observed that such incidents could not simply be treated as routine law-and-order matters. On 1 September 2026, while hearing proceedings connected with Mr Mhatre's case, the bench had indicated that it could consider cancelling his bail and asked the Maharashtra government to formally move an appropriate application.
The issue has since returned to the Supreme Court following the State's challenge to the High Court's decision.
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