Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre granted bail with Maharashtra travel ban

The Bombay High Court granted bail to Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre and three of his associates who were charged with assaulting three doctors at a municipal hospital in Dombivli, Maharashtra. The court ordered that the accused remain outside Maharashtra until a chargesheet is filed, require them to report to local police three times a week, and directed that Mhatre stay at a resort in Goa. It also directed the state to appoint a special public prosecutor, to fast‑track the trial, and to provide police protection for the doctors while prohibiting the municipal corporation from disciplining the doctors for their absence.

The incident stemmed from a dispute over the transfer of a pregnant woman to another hospital due to a shortage of NICU beds, during which Mhatre was recorded slapping a doctor's phone. The bench emphasized that elected representatives assaulting voters "dents the very fabric of democracy."