Dr Payal Tadvi suicide: HC stays Maharashtra Medical Council’s inquiry against 2 accused

The Bombay high court (HC) last week temporarily stayed a disciplinary inquiry initiated by the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) against two King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital senior residents booked in connection with the death by suicide of their junior colleague Dr Payal Tadvi

The Bombay high court (HC) last week temporarily stayed a disciplinary inquiry initiated by the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) against two King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital senior residents booked in connection with the death by suicide of their junior colleague Dr Payal Tadvi.

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Acting on separate petitions filed by the accused – Dr Bhakti Mehare and Dr Ankita Khandelwal – the division bench of justice KK Tated and justice NR Borkar restrained MMC from proceeding ahead with the inquiry till June 11, when their petitions will come up for further hearing.

Dr Mehare and Dr Khandelwal moved HC challenging the inquiry initiated by MMC against them last November on the basis of a complaint lodged by Dr Tadvi’s mother Zubeda. They contended that the MMC has initiated the inquiry on the same set of charges for which they are facing prosecution. They claimed that if they are forced to disclose their defence in the inquiry, their defence in the criminal cases will be prejudiced, and therefore urged HC to stay the disciplinary proceedings till the conclusion of their trials.

HC found force in the submissions and temporarily stayed the inquiry observing, “Bare reading of the notice of charges dated 04.11.2020 prima facie shows that the respondents started departmental inquiry against the petitioner on the basis of the criminal case.”

Dr Tadvi, a second-year postgraduate student of Topiwala National Medical College – which is attached to the state-run KEM Hospital – died by suicide on May 22, 2019, inside her hostel room in the hospital premises. She had left behind a suicide note, blaming her three seniors – Dr Mehare, Dr Khandelwal and Dr Hema Ahuja – for compelling her to take the drastic step by harassing her over her caste and the fact that she had secured admission for the post-graduate course through quota earmarked for her category.

A week after the death, the police arrested all the three doctors on charges of making casteist slurs and driving Dr Tadvi to end her life. The trio were booked under sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code and section 3(2) (v) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The trio were released on bail by HC on August 9, 2019.