The Bombay High Court on Tuesday said it would hear the bail applications of the three doctors accused of allegedly abetting the suicide of their junior colleague Payal Tadvi on Thursday, PTI reported. The court said it needed to take certain factors into consideration before taking a decision.
“When it comes to regular bail [once chargesheet is filed], three factors need to be considered,” the bench said. “First, if the accused persons will flee or abscond. Second, if they will tamper with the evidence or witnesses. And third, if the accused will cause harm to the society in general.”
Special Public Prosecutor Raja Thakare, representing Mumbai Police’s crime branch told the court of Justice DS Naidu that the chargesheet would be filed before a special court later on Tuesday or on Wednesday. The lawyer representing the three doctors, Aabad Ponda, said that if the investigation was over, the accused were not required to be in jail.
The Mumbai Police, meanwhile, filed a 1,203-page chargesheet in the case on Tuesday, The Indian Express reported. Doctors Hema Ahuja, Bhakti Mehare and Ankita Khandelwal have been named in it.
The police have alleged that the doctors committed offences under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act and the Information Technology Act, 2000. The doctors have also been accused of abetment of suicide and destruction of evidence.
The police have attached statements from nearly 180 witnesses in addition to the suicide note recovered from Tadvi’s mobile phone. The witnesses include those who were present when the doctors allegedly shouted at Tadvi, and later she committed suicide the same day. The police have also compiled the statements of colleagues, other staff members and seniors of the hospital.
The three doctors of BYL Nair Hospital were arrested on May 29, seven days after Tadvi committed suicide after allegedly facing casteist abuse from them at the Topiwala National Medical College in Mumbai, where she worked. After Tadvi’s death, the three doctors had denied the accusations in a letter to the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors, and demanded a “fair inquiry”. In June, a special court had dismissed the bail plea of the three doctors.
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