Mumbai: Tardeo building, Bhatia Hospital lock horns over entry of nurses

Tardeo Court building, located next to Bhatia Hospital finds itself in an unsavoury controversy after the police booked a security guard and management committee secretary of the society based on a complaint filed by a nurse working in the hospital. An FIR has been lodged at the Tardeo police station against the duo.

The complaint

Nurse Jensi Thomas, 24, filed the complaint with the police on Wednesday. Four flats in the Tardeo Court building belong to the hospital, which provides accommodation for nurses. Currently, only three flats are being used. According to the complaint, on October 28, when 12 nurses tried to get into the building after completing work around 3 pm, the building's security guards blocked the entrance, denying entry to them. However, they managed to get in after an argument with the guards. After a while when Thomas had to step out for some work, a security guard allegedly stopped her and said that the society had asked not to allow the nurses to move out and re-enter the building, allegedly on instructions of secretary Kartik Mehta. On being stopped, Thomas reported the matter to the Hospital Human Resources (HR) chief, Nitin Warde, who arrived at the building. He then took the nurse and others to the Tardeo police station.

Warde said, "The police have filed an FIR on our complaint, but we are requesting them to add some more sections in the case. The nurses who are being denied entry to the society are Corona warriors. We have 24 nurses staying there and they work on a rotational basis."

The Tardeo police have registered a case under sections 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC. "We have filed an FIR on the complaint of the Bhatia Hospital nurse. Mehta has been sent a notice to appear before the police," senior police inspector Feroz Bagwan told mid-day.

The building's side

Mehta is functioning as the society management committee head, as the chairman recently passed away. He said, "On the said day, 12 nurses arrived at the building to go to their flats. Already 12 nurses were residing at the building and these were 12 more. Our security person M Singh tried to stop them, but they went upstairs after an argument. Singh then called me and asked me what to do. I asked him to call the police. Meanwhile, a nurse, Jensi Thomas came down to go out for some work. Singh stopped her, requesting her to wait for the police and Warde to arrive at the premises. Accordingly, she was told that whatever decision the police take, the building will abide by it. Then the police and Warde arrived, and took Singh and a junior manager to the police station. I was not even present at the scene when this happened.
So how can there be an FIR against me?"

'No harassment'

Mehta claimed, "I and a couple of others from the building rushed to the police station and found that an FIR had been lodged. We were there from 5.15 pm to 12 am, after which we returned home. Both the society committee and residents categorically deny any harassment to the nurses. On the contrary, the society has provided amenities like a separate rear lift for the nurses, while the other residents use the front one."

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