The Bombay High Court has cancelled the bail granted to Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre in connection with the alleged assault of doctors and hospital staff at a medical facility in Dombivli. The court directed Mhatre to surrender by 5 pm on Sunday, taking a serious view of the attack and the circumstances surrounding the bail order issued earlier by a magistrate's court.

During a special Saturday hearing, a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad took suo motu cognisance of the bail granted to Mhatre and his associates. The court observed that the Kalyan magistrate's court had failed to adequately consider Mhatre's criminal history while granting bail. The bench noted that the corporator had been named in 18 criminal cases, including allegations involving serious offences such as murder and attempt to murder.

The High Court said that although Mhatre had been acquitted in 17 of those cases, the fact that he had faced such serious allegations should have been taken into account while deciding the bail plea. The court also considered the reaction from the medical community, including the decision by doctors in Maharashtra to protest against the incident through a planned strike.

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The controversy began after Mhatre and his associates allegedly entered a hospital in Dombivli, Thane district, on July 6 following a complaint from a family whose newborn baby was reportedly asked to be shifted to another facility due to the NICU being full. A video of the incident showed a group of men allegedly assaulting two doctors, including a woman doctor, and other hospital employees.

Mhatre was arrested on July 8 and granted bail on July 14. Before his arrest, he denied attacking the woman doctor and said he only pushed away her hand while she was using her phone. He claimed he had intervened to help the woman and her child, but doctors involved in the incident alleged that they faced threats following the assault.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) had announced a 24-hour shutdown of hospitals across Maharashtra on July 22 in protest against the attack, while stating that emergency and essential medical services would continue. After cancelling Mhatre's bail, the High Court urged doctors to reconsider the strike, referring to their role in providing essential services to society.

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