On Wednesday, the special Mumbai court hearing the bail pleas of the accused in the Dr. Payal Tadvi suicide case said that the proceedings of the hearing will not be recorded due to the absence of necessary facilities.
According to the regulations, it is mandatory to record bail proceedings and the court too had ordered video recording of the hearing earlier under the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. However, the prosecution told the court that police were unable to make the necessary arrangements and sought some time. On the other hand, defence lawyer Abad Ponda pointed out that as per the law, a recording was required only during the main trial.
In response, advocate Gunratan Sadavarte, who is appearing for the victim's family, alleged that the state government and the police were "not serious" when it came to atrocities against scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
Also Read: Payal Tadvi Suicide Case: VBA To Initiate Its Own Investigation
However, Judge P B Jadhav noted in his order that despite it was mandatory to record all the proceedings of the SC/ST Act cases two years ago, infrastructure for the same is yet to be made available. The judge stated that it was the state government's responsibility to make it available.
The bail pleas will be heard on June 21, Friday.
Earlier, Dr. Tadvi, 26, a second-year postgraduate medical student studying at BYL Nair Hospital, allegedly committed suicide in her hostel room on May 22. The family members had blamed three of her seniors — Dr. Hema Ahuja, Dr. Bhakti Meher, and Dr. Ankita Khandelwal — for ragging her and hurling casteist abuses at her, which forced Tadvi to take her life.
After which, the three were arrested and are currently, in judicial custody.