The Bombay High Court has criticised the investigation into the alleged assault and abuse of medical staff by Shiv Sena workers at a private hospital in Palghar, calling the police probe “ridiculous” for failing to collect crucial evidence and ordering the Konkan division’s special inspector general of police to personally supervise it.
A bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Kamal Khata said the investigation appeared to have been conducted negligently. The court directed the special inspector general to oversee the probe and instructed the police to submit an investigation report in the following week.
The case concerns an alleged incident at a private hospital in Palghar in which medical personnel were allegedly abused and assaulted by workers associated with the Shiv Sena’s Shinde faction. The incident also involved an allegation that the saline drip of a Govinda admitted to the intensive care unit was removed.
The court questioned why the saline bottle had not been mentioned in the scene-of-crime panchnama. The judges also asked whether the bottle had been found and whether the room had been cleaned. These questions were raised while examining the investigation record and the material collected by the police.
According to the report placed before the court, the panchnama went little beyond repeating statements that had already been recorded. The investigating officer had allegedly failed to collect significant evidence or seize material from the scene. The bench said the condition of the investigation reflected on the quality of the work at the Palghar police station.
The court also noted that the prosecution had claimed to have seized medical documents, but that an important part of the evidence was missing. The judges questioned how the prosecution would establish that an offence had taken place if the object or material connected to the alleged incident had not been seized. The court further observed that such gaps often weaken the government’s case during proceedings.
The matter was brought before the court after a doctors’ organisation alleged that the investigation was proceeding slowly because the accused were linked to a ruling-party group. The organisation also informed the court that three of the absconding accused had been denied anticipatory bail. It said the applications had been opposed by the complainants, rather than by the state government, before the magistrate’s court, which subsequently rejected them.
The court’s directions place the next stage of the case under closer supervisory scrutiny. The Konkan division special inspector general is expected to monitor the investigation personally, while the police must submit their report to the court in the following week.
