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    Thane doctor flees city in fear after assault by Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre
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    The Bombay HC bench noted drily that nothing in the assault footage suggested the actions of a 73-year-old, what with the corporator Mhatre (in pic) seen "almost jumping over the table" as he assaulted the victim. File photo

    ‘You attack citizens after seeking their votes’: Bombay HC denies bail to Sena corporator

    Court raps local police for 'rare respect' for accused in doctor assault case, even as it questions Mhatre's hospitalisation and age-based plea for leniency

    The Federal
    28 July 2026 2:34 PM IST  (Updated:2026-07-28 09:07:14)

    An elected representative cannot "attack citizens with files and chairs", the Bombay High Court declared on Monday (July 27), denying immediate bail to Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) corporator Ramesh Mhatre, accused of assaulting doctors and staff at a municipal hospital in Dombivli.

    "You seek votes promising to serve the public, but after getting elected, you assault people," the bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad told Mhatre, driving home that public office comes with a duty of restraint, not license for violence.
    The court ordered that the investigation be taken out of the hands of the local police and entrusted instead to the Deputy Commissioner of Police of the concerned zone, directing that all appropriate steps be taken to record statements of the complainant, victims, and witnesses, with adequate protection extended to them throughout.

    The DCP has been asked to keep the court updated on the probe's progress, with the next report due on July 31.

    Mhatre assaults doctor

    Mhatre and his aides allegedly attacked doctors and medical staff at a civic hospital in Dombivli in Thane district on July 6 after a pregnant patient's relatives alleged delay in her treatment. Earlier this month, the high court took suo motu cognisance of the matter and expressed concerns over the "gravity and seriousness" of the issue. It stayed the Kalyan court's order granting Mhatre bail, saying it was "perverse".

    Following the high court's intervention, Mhatre surrendered before the police, and is currently in judicial custody.

    Court criticises police

    What drew the bench's sharpest criticism, however, was not just the assault itself but the conduct of the police in its aftermath.
    No investigation was carried out at all in the initial period after the incident, the judges observed. This is a lapse they did not treat as routine inefficiency but as something closer to deference.
    Officers, the bench said, showed a "rare respect" for the accused, going so far as to seek a local court's permission to produce Mhatre for remand via video conference, sparing him the ordinary process afforded to any other accused person.

    Also read: Thane doctor flees city in fear after assault by Shiv Sena corporator; party leaders slam Mhatre

    The bench pointed to another telling detail: after being remanded to judicial custody, Mhatre got himself admitted to hospital, citing high blood pressure — yet at the time of the alleged assault, he had shown no such signs of distress.

    Moreover, the moment his bail came through, the court noted, he walked out of the hospital without hesitation, to a welcome from a crowd of supporters waiting outside.

    Not actions of a 73-year-old

    The court was equally unsparing when it turned to the video of the assault itself, which was circulated widely and forms the core of the case against Mhatre.
    The corporator "did not waste even half a second," the bench remarked, pointing out that he continued to hit the hospital's doctor without pause. The judges also gave short shrift to the defence's plea that Mhatre, 73, deserved leniency on account of his age - noting drily that nothing in the footage suggested the actions of a 73-year-old, what with the corporator seen "almost jumping over the table" as he assaulted the victim.
    Bombay HighCourtShiv SenaAttacks on doctors
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