SC To Hear HDFC Bank CEO’s Plea To Quash FIR In Lilavati Trust Case

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear HDFC Bank Ltd. MD and CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan’s plea on Friday to quash a first information report alleging his involvement in financial irregularities concerning the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, which runs the Lilavati Hospital in Bandra, Mumbai.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Jagdishan, said three benches of the Bombay High Court had recused themselves from hearing the case, causing delays. "The bank is suffering every day due to a frivolous FIR lodged by a warring faction of the hospital’s trustees,” he told the apex court.

The FIR, registered in May, was based on a Bandra magistrate’s order following a seized diary that allegedly recorded ₹144.2 million in misappropriated funds. Jagdishan is accused of receiving ₹20.5 million as a bribe to help former trustees retain control of the trust.

Jagdishan has asked the Supreme Court to set aside the magistrate’s order and stay the probe and any coercive action, including filing of a charge sheet, arguing it would cause “grave and irreparable injury”.

In June, HDFC Bank had denied the allegations, calling them an abuse of legal process by loan defaulters.

Separately, the trust has filed a ₹10 billion defamation suit against Jagdishan, accusing him of making false statements to malign its image and that of its permanent trustee, Prashant Mehta.