Payal Tadvi case: HC grants bail to three doctors

Trio told to pay ₹2 lakh each, can’t enter Nair hospital

August 09, 2019 02:15 pm | Updated August 10, 2019 04:29 am IST - Mumbai

Behind bars: The doctors were sent to judicial custody on May 31 , a week after Payal Tadvi ended her life. File

Behind bars: The doctors were sent to judicial custody on May 31 , a week after Payal Tadvi ended her life. File

The Bombay High Court on Friday granted bail to the three doctors arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of 26-year-old Payal Tadvi on BYL Nair Hospital premises.

A single Bench of Justice Sadhana Jadhav was hearing an appeal filed by Hema Ahuja (28), Bhakti Mehare, (26), and Ankita Khandelwal (27), all third-year resident doctors currently lodged at the Byculla prison for allegedly harassing, ragging and abetting Tadvi’s suicide because she belonged to a Scheduled Tribe.

While granting bail, the court said, “Let them remain in public domain with this stigma and this order.” It directed them to pay ₹2 lakh each. The court ordered them to report to the Crime Branch office every alternate day till the framing of charges. They cannot leave the city without the court’s permission and their licences of medical practice would be suspended till the conclusion of trial.

The court also directed the trio not to enter the BYL Nair Hospital and Topiwala Medical College.

On May 23, Tadvi killed herself in her hostel room on the hospital premises. The accused doctors were sent to judicial custody on May 31 and were subsequently refused bail by the city civil and sessions court on June 24. On June 29, they moved the High Court.

The doctors have been booked under Sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and sections under the Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

‘Footage not evidence’

As per the request made by Tadvi’s family to record court proceedings on video as per the Atrocities Act, another HC Bench had directed that this be done.

However, on Friday, advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni told the court that the Act merely provided for video recording of the proceedings and not audio recording. He also said, “The purpose of such video recording was to use the footage for witness protection and not for including the same in the trial as evidence.”

Special public prosecutor Raja Thakare also informed the court that pursuant to earlier orders, the prosecution had recorded the statements of six relevant witnesses — Dr. Snehal Shinde, Dr. Geeta Kulkarni, Dr. Ziyan Sayyad, Dr. Anupama Kanwar, Dr. Devika and Dr. Surabhi — under Section 164 (recording of confessions and statements) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

He said the Crime Branch had also communicated to the municipal commissioner seeking a departmental inquiry against Dr. Yi Ching Ling, the head of the obstetrics and gynaecology department at BYL Nair Hospital, as directed by the court in the last hearing.

The court reiterated that Dr. Ling had refused to take any action on the harassment complaint raised before her. The Bench said, “All custodians in all colleges must be aware that it is their duty to protect students and consider their complaints. In this case, the [head of department] has failed in her duty. After this incident, how many students from rural areas would think of taking admission in your college?”

The court said, “I can say that [the accused] were insensitive and were probably not aware of the background of Dr. Payal. She was a bright student, I have seen her results and she had consistently scored 65-plus marks in all her exams. How can you call such a bright student a dumb person? This is the most unfortunate case.”

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