HDFC Bank’s Managing Director and CEO, Sashidhar Jagdishan, has approached the Bombay High Court to contest a First Information Report (FIR) filed against him by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust (LKMM Trust), which manages the prominent Lilavati Hospital in Bandra (West), Mumbai. Jagdishan is seeking to quash the FIR, which accuses him of taking a bribe of ₹2.05 crore to assist a group, including Chetan Mehta and other former trustees, in maintaining illegal control over the trust.
During the initial hearing, Justices A.S. Gadkari and Rajesh S. Patil were involved, but Justice Patil recused himself. The case was subsequently mentioned before Justice Sarang V. Kotwal, who also stepped back, having previously represented one of the trustees. As a result, the petitioner will need to request a different bench from the high court administration.
Represented by senior advocate Amit Desai, Jagdishan claims that the FIR is unfounded and malicious, arguing it is a retaliatory tactic linked to HDFC Bank’s recovery efforts against Splendour Gems Limited-owned by the Mehta family-which had defaulted on loans amounting to ₹65.22 crore. Desai alleges that the complainant is utilizing the “facade of the Lilavati Trust” to take action against Jagdishan.
Jagdishan has requested the court to invalidate the FIR and overturn the magistrate court’s order that initiated the investigation. He is also seeking a stay on any inquiry against him and requests that no coercive measures, including filing a chargesheet, be taken during the pending hearings, warning that failing to do so would cause him “grave loss and irreparable injury.”
On May 29, the magistrate court instructed the Bandra police to file charges under Indian Penal Code sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 409, and 420 (cheating), and mandated a probe as per section 175 (3) of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). The FIR was registered on May 31.
The trust, through representative Prashant Mehta, filed a complaint alleging that ongoing loan recovery proceedings involved a company linked to the father of a current trustee, with HDFC Bank as a creditor. The complaint asserts that during these proceedings, the trustee’s father faced physical and mental harassment, leading to his death. After taking office, Prashant claimed to have discovered a diary that showed several transfers of money amounting to ₹2.05 crorewere made to Jagdishan on Chetan Mehta’s orders, purportedly to intimidate the trustee’s father.
In the May 29 order, Judicial Magistrate First Class Komalsing Rajput recognized that the diary entries indicated financial transactions constituting cognizable offenses and emphasized the considerable amount involved. He deemed a police investigation necessary to ascertain the source of these funds and how they were transferred.
However, Jagdishan contended that the magistrate’s order was contradictory and flawed, pointing out that no additional evidence was presented beyond the diary entries. He argued that the magistrate’s decision to proceed with the investigation based solely on an affidavit was misguided, stating that the provided diary entries and selective cash records did not constitute sufficient evidence to support any charges.
Additionally, the Bandra police registered another FIR on May 31 against Chetan Mehta and M/s Phoenix ARC Private Ltd for allegedly misappropriating trust funds amounting to ₹2.25 crore. Phoenix ARC, alongside co-accused Keki Elavia and Venkatu Srinivasan, has also sought to quash the ongoing embezzlement FIR against them. The high court is expected to address the various pleas in due course.
Original Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/business/banking-and-finance/hdfc-bank-ceo-moves-bombay-hc-to-quash-fir-based-on-lilavati-trusts-complaint-over-rs-2-crore-bribe-10074916/
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Publish Date: 2025-06-19 01:23:00
