Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on 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.
Meanwhile, a five-member team of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) is in Mumbai to meet top government officials and the management of the BYL Nair Hospital regarding the Payal Tadvi suicide case.
The team, led by NCST Chairman Nand Kumar Sai, will hold meetings with top administration and police officials, including the Maharashtra chief secretary, secretary (Health) and the Mumbai police commissioner, on June 8, an official said.