Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Sukrya Mhatre, facing prosecution for allegedly assaulting doctors and staff at the Shastri Nagar hospital in Kalyan, Thane, withdrew his Supreme Court appeal in the matter on Monday as the court made it clear that those involved in such incidents “do not deserve to roam on the streets even for a minute”.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said this while allowing the corporator to withdraw his appeal challenging some of the bail conditions imposed by the Bombay High Court and also issuing a notice on a plea by the Maharashtra government seeking cancellation of the bail granted to him and three others.

During the hearing, the bench pointed out that there was yet another incident of a group of people attacking hospital staff—an apparent reference to the alleged assault on the staff of a Palghar hospital on Sunday over the treatment of a man injured during Dahi Handi celebrations. The police have booked 17 Shiv Sena workers in connection with the incident.

“This is their modus operandi. These people do not deserve to roam on the streets. Yesterday, again the same group of people assaulted doctors and hospital staff in Palghar,” the bench said.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Mhatre, said he had checked and found that it was not the same group of people.

‘A message needs to go out to everyone’

But the bench said the alleged attackers in both cases purportedly followed the same ideology. The bench also said it intended to hear the state’s plea to cancel the bail.

“A message needs to go…not only to these people but to everyone and as a deterrent…These people do not deserve to be out at all… Such people do not deserve to roam freely on the streets even for a minute,” the bench said.

Story continues below this ad

The police arrested Mhatre following the July 6 assault in Kalyan. Though a sessions court granted him bail on July 14, the high court took suo motu cognisance and stayed the bail order on July 18. The high court lifted the stay on August 7 and gave him and three others bail under stringent conditions.

The incident occurred at the Municipal Shastri Nagar Hospital in Dombivli after doctors advised a pregnant woman’s family to shift her to another hospital because all Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) beds were occupied. Her family allegedly contacted Mhatre, following which he and his associates allegedly assaulted three doctors at the hospital.