Payal Tadvi case: Crime branch allowed to quiz 3 women doctors
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court Thursday refused to grant crime branch the custody of three women doctors arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of their junior colleague, but allowed it to interrogate them for four days.
A single bench of Justice S S Shinde said the crime branch can take the three accused from the Byculla Jail for questioning during daytime.
"The arrested accused shall be taken from jail, where they are lodged today (Thursday) from 2 pm to 6 pm, and from 9 am to 6 pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for interrogation," the court said.
The crime branch had earlier this week approached the HC seeking custody of the three doctors - Hema Ahuja, Bhakti Meher and Ankita Khandelwal.
The trio, attached to the B Y L Nair Hospital here, were arrested last week on the charges of abetment of suicide of their junior colleague Dr Payal Tadvi.
A special court had on Friday last remanded them to judicial custody after rejecting the police plea for further custody.
Crime branch counsel Raja Thakare told the court on Thursday that it was handed over the probe in the case the day the lower court sent the three accused to judicial custody and hence it did not get an opportunity to interrogate them.
Advocate Aabad Ponda, appearing for the three accused, opposed the plea and said the accused persons were ready to cooperate with the investigation and can be taken from the jail daily for questioning.
"The bail pleas filed by the accused are listed before the special court on June 10. The crime branch has three days time to question them and send them back to jail by the evening," Ponda said.
The court, while agreeing to this said, "The accused persons are medical officers and are making themselves available for interrogation. They are not habitual offenders or hardcore criminals."
The court added that the crime branch, during its interrogation of the three accused should, keep these factors in mind.
Referring to the special court order remanding the three accused to judicial custody, Justice Shinde said, "The lower court has said the police did not do anything for two days when the three accused were in their custody."
"The state realises that it is a sensitive case, then when such an offence takes place why does the police not entrust investigations into the case to a senior officer immediately," Justice Shinde said.
Ponda claimed the three accused had only pulled up the deceased for not performing her duty in the hospital and shirking work.
"The accused and the victim were attached to the women and child department of the hospital which is considered as a very sensitive department. Any lapse or flaw on part of the doctors there would result in serious consequences. The victim had on several occasions made mistakes in her reports," Ponda claimed.
The accused have been booked under relevant section of the IPC and under the Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
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Telangana CM urges Amit Shah to increase sanctioned strength of IPS officers in state
Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday night and urged him to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state in view of its growing administrative and security needs.
The two leaders also discussed the recent surrender of several senior Maoist leaders before the Telangana Police and other issues.
"During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the issue of Maoist surrenders and their rehabilitation. The chief minister informed Shah that significant improvements in policing have taken place in Telangana over the past two years," an official release here said.
Highlighting that 591 Maoists have laid down their arms and joined the mainstream of society during this period, the chief minister said the state government was providing them compensation and rehabilitation assistance as per the rules.
He requested the Union home minister to extend financial support from the central government for development works in the backward regions of the state.
Reddy also urged Shah to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state from 83 to 105 in line with the state's growing administrative and security needs, the statement said.
The first cadre review after the formation of Telangana was conducted in 2016, while the next review, due in 2021, was delayed and finally carried out in 2025. Even then, only seven additional IPS officers were allocated to the state, the chief minister informed Shah and requested that the third cadre review be conducted in 2026 as per the schedule.
Reddy explained that Telangana, like the rest of the country, is facing several modern challenges, including cybercrime, drug trafficking, white-collar crimes, and other emerging security threats.
He highlighted the reorganisation of the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Malkajgiri Police Commissionerates, the proposed formation of the Future City Commissionerate and the rapidly growing population in Hyderabad to underline the increasing administrative requirements of the state.
