Mumbai doctor’s suicide case: Bail conditions for 3 accused doctors strict

The HC granted the bail on a personal bond of ₹2 lakh each and one or two sureties of the same amount on the condition that their license to practice medicine remains under suspension till the conclusion of the trial.

The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday granted bail to the three senior resident doctors of BYL Nair Hospital, accused of allegedly ragging and harassing postgraduate student Dr Payal Tadvi, who died by suicide in May.

The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday granted bail to the three senior resident doctors of BYL Nair Hospital, accused of allegedly ragging and harassing postgraduate student Dr Payal Tadvi, who died by suicide in May. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

The HC granted the bail on a personal bond of ₹2 lakh each and one or two sureties of the same amount on the condition that their license to practice medicine remains under suspension till the conclusion of the trial. Justice Sadhana Jadhav also restrained the three accused – Dr Hema Ahuja, Dr Bhakti Meher and Dr Ankita Khandelwal – from leaving the city and entering the Nair Hospital complex. The court also ordered the three doctors to visit the crime branch every alternate day.

The counsel for the accused argued that they had been in jail for more than two months and they should be granted bail as they were not accused of homicide or murder and that the investigation in the case was complete.

Special public prosecutor Raja Thakare had on Tuesday opposed the bail plea of the three accused. He argued that as the crime branch was yet to record the statements of six more prosecution witnesses, the accused could try to influence the witnesses if they were granted bail.

However, on Friday, Thakare said that as the accused doctors were women and that the investigation was complete with the charge-sheet in the case filed, the police had no objection to grant them bail.

Tadvi, 26, a second-year gynaecology student at TN Topiwala National Medical College attached to BYL Nair Hospital, was found dead in her hostel room on May 22. The same day, Agripada police registered a case after Tadvi’s parents complained that she was repeatedly harassed by Ahuja, Meher and Khandelwal because she had secured an admission to the course on a seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes.

A week after the suicide, Ahuja, Meher and Khandelwal were arrested for making casteist slurs against Tadvi, forcing her to take the drastic step.