Pradeep Gharat willing to rejoin as SPP in Dr Payal Tadvi case, state tells HC

The Bombay High Court was informed that senior advocate Pradeep Gharat is willing to return as special public prosecutor in the Dr. Payal Tadvi case.

MUMBAI: Two days after the Bombay High court asked the state government to check if senior advocate Pradeep Gharat would consider returning as special public prosecutor (SPP) in the 2019 Dr Payal Tadvi suicide abetment case, the state government on Wednesday told the HC that Gharat has expressed willingness to rejoin the case, which has seen multiple delays over the past five years.

Pradeep Gharat willing to rejoin as SPP in Dr Payal Tadvi case, state tells HC

Additional public prosecutor Shreekant Gavand informed a division bench of justices Ravindra Ghuge and Rajesh Patil that he had spoken to Gharat, who confirmed that he was ready to resume his role as SPP in the matter.

On March 7, 2025, the state government removed Pradeep Gharat from the case. In his place, the state had appointed advocate Mahesh Manohar Mule as special public prosecutor. Dr Payal Tadvi’s husband, Dr Salman Tadvi and her mother Abeda Salim Tadvi opposed the new appointment.

In November 2024, while serving as SPP, Gharat filed an application before the special court seeking to make Dr Yi Ching Ling Chung Chiang — then head of the obstetrics and gynaecology department — a co-accused in the case. Gharat argued that Dr Chiang had failed to act on repeated complaints of harassment lodged by Payal and her family, despite an obligation to intervene.

The application relied on findings of the hospital’s anti-ragging committee and an early written complaint by Payal’s mother. On February 28, 2025, the special court allowed the application, paving the way for Dr Chiang’s prosecution alongside the original three accused.

Barely a week later, however, the state government abruptly replaced Gharat with advocate Mahesh Manohar Mule. The decision was neither explained in the official notification nor conveyed to Payal’s family, prompting her mother to move the high court challenging the move.

Dr Payal Tadvi, a 26-year-old postgraduate medical student from the oppressed Bhil tribal community, died by suicide on May 22, 2019, allegedly after facing prolonged caste-based harassment and ragging by three senior colleagues — Dr Hema Ahuja, Dr Bhakti Meher and Dr Ankita Khandelwal — at the Topiwala National Medical College and BYL Nair Hospital.

Her death sparked national outrage, leading to the arrest of the three doctors under provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act, and the Indian Penal Code. They are currently out on bail. Despite the gravity of the allegations, the trial is yet to commence.

In earlier hearings, the court had voiced displeasure over Gharat’s removal and asked the state to ascertain whether he would be willing to return to the case.

The matter will now be heard further in light of the state’s statement that Gharat is ready to rejoin as SPP.