Thane Hospital Assault Case: Kalyan Court Rejects Mahatre's Plea To Appear Via Video Conference

A Kalyan court on Thursday rejected a police plea to produce arrested Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre before it through video conferencing, in connection with the alleged assault on a doctor and nursing staff at Dombivli's Shastri Nagar Hospital. The court directed police to produce the 72-year-old corporator in person, even though he had been admitted to hospital a day earlier.

Mhatre was arrested after Dr Vaibhav Salunkhe of the KDMC-run Shastri Nagar Hospital lodged an FIR accusing him of attacking doctors and hospital staffers over an alleged delay in a patient's treatment. Within hours of his arrest, Mhatre was admitted to Thane Civil Hospital after reportedly complaining of chest pain and a spike in blood pressure, adding a fresh complication to a case that had already drawn sharp public attention after a video of the assault went viral.

Seeking the court's permission for virtual production, police told judicial magistrate first class K S Katkade that Mhatre was suffering from high blood pressure and kidney-related ailments, and had vomited twice since the morning, making it difficult to bring him before the court physically.

During the hearing, Mhatre's counsel, advocate A Y Patki, told the court that his client's condition was unstable, not stable enough to justify a longer period in police custody. As the three other accused arrested in the same case have already been remanded to police custody until Friday, the defence sought only a single day's custody for Mhatre, citing his medical treatment as the basis for the limited request.

After hearing submissions from both sides, the court reserved its order on the custody plea, leaving open the question of how many days Mhatre will spend in police custody, and whether he will be produced physically or through alternate means going forward. The insistence on physical production, despite the police citing medical grounds for a virtual appearance, signals the court's intent to personally assess the corporator's condition rather than rely solely on medical claims placed on record.

The case has already triggered a wider political and administrative response. Following the assault, which was captured on video and widely circulated, the Indian Medical Association had threatened to shut clinics and hospitals in the area unless action was taken, prompting police to register a case against Mhatre and five others. Thane MP Naresh Mhaske had subsequently issued a statement distancing the party from the corporator's conduct, confirming a show-cause notice had been served on him and that disciplinary proceedings were underway alongside the criminal case.

Mhatre's hospitalisation, coming so soon after his arrest, has added a new dimension to a case already being watched for how the justice system handles an elected representative accused of assaulting healthcare workers. The court's decision to insist on physical production, rather than accept police's request for a virtual appearance, will likely be read as an attempt to ensure the proceedings are not diluted by claims of ill health that cannot be independently verified through a screen.

With inputs from TOI