Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre, the principal accused in the doctor assault case, and three other individuals surrendered before the Thane district trial court on Sunday, October 5, 2026, after the Supreme Court revoked their bail.
The Supreme Court annulled a Bombay High Court order issued on September 28, requiring Mhatre and his associates—Ramesh Pawar, Pramod alias Prakash Nikam, and Akshay Sharad Karande—to appear before the trial court by the specified deadline. The court also directed that they be remanded to Adharwadi Jail in Kalyan. A fifth accused, Sadhana Sanjay Karande, was already in judicial custody after a Kalyan court denied her bail.
In a 36‑page order, the bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta emphasized that a doctor cannot be expected to exercise sound judgment while threatened with physical violence, intimidation or coercion. The court ruled that such conduct cannot serve as a means of expressing dissatisfaction with medical treatment, securing compliance with a demand, or raising grievances over an adverse medical outcome.
Mhatre and the three co‑accused are charged with assaulting and verbally abusing three doctors, including a female physician, who were on duty in the labour ward of Shastri Nagar Municipal Hospital in Dombivli, Thane district, on July 6. The bench noted that the lower courts had not given sufficient weight to Mhatre’s criminal history, which includes 18 registered cases, some involving serious offences under sections 302 and 307 of the Indian Penal Code.
