Neurologist suicide abetment case: HC tells Solapur court to defer framing of charges against accused till next hearing

Kolhapur: The Bombay high court's Kolhapur bench on Tuesday directed the Solapur sessions court to defer framing of charges against Manisha Musale-Mane, accused of abetting neurologist Dr Shirish Valsangkar's suicide, until its (HC's) next hearing on June 22.Musale-Mane approached high court after the sessions court rejected her discharge plea in April and scheduled May 15 as the day to frame charges. Granting interim relief, the HC held that the charge-framing process be stayed till the matter is heard next."In view of the filing of the present petition, the learned sessions court is directed to defer the framing of charges till the next date of the present matter," Justice Pravin S Patil stated while posting the hearing to June 22.Earlier, in its April 20 order, Solapur principal district and sessions judge Manoj Sharma had ruled that there was sufficient material on record to raise "grave suspicion" and a prima facie link between the alleged threats by the accused and the doctor's suicide.Dr Valsangkar died by suicide on April 18, 2025. Musale-Mane, 46, was arrested on April 20 after a suicide note, purportedly written by Valsangkar, blamed her for driving him to the extreme step. Musale-Mane has been out on bail since June 25, 2025.According to investigators, Musale-Mane had been upset over a reduction in salary and authority by the hospital management and had allegedly sent emails to Valsangkar threatening self-harm and harm to her children. The note also referred to the doctor being distressed over what he termed "false and baseless allegations."In the high court, Musale-Mane was represented by advocate Prasad P Kulkarni, along with Prashant Navgire, Nakul Vivek Shukla and Amol Deshinge. Additional public prosecutor N B Patil appeared for the state, while constable B D Devkate of the Sadar Bazaar police station, Solapur, was present during the hearing.