Latest news with #Jagdishan
Hindustan Times
16 hours ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Lilavati trust slaps ₹1,000-crore defamation suit on HDFC Bank CEO
MUMBAI: The legal confrontation between the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust (LKMM Trust), which runs the prominent Lilavati Hospital in Bandra West, and HDFC Bank CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan escalated this week, with the trust filing a ₹ 1,000-crore defamation lawsuit against the banker. This move comes just two days after Jagdishan approached the Bombay High Court seeking to quash an FIR that accuses him of accepting a ₹ 2.05 crore bribe in a case linked to the trust. Lilavati trust slaps ₹ 1,000-crore defamation suit on HDFC Bank CEO Filed before a civil court, the suit accuses Jagdishan of making 'malicious, false, and defamatory statements' against the trust and its permanent trustee Prashant Mehta. In a strongly worded statement, the trust said the legal action was necessary to counter what it described as a 'coordinated campaign' to malign its reputation and obstruct its functioning as a public charitable institution. Separately, the trust has also filed a criminal complaint with a magistrate court in Girgaon. On June 16, the court issued notices to Jagdishan, HDFC Bank CEO Madhu Chibbar, the bank's corporate communications head, and others named in the complaint. 'This marks a significant step in holding the HDFC CEO accountable for what the trust alleges is a deliberate and sustained smear campaign,' the trust said. Responding to Jagdishan's court petition, the trust questioned his attempt to discredit valid judicial orders and FIRs. 'We have full faith in the Indian judiciary. Unlike Mr Jagdishan, who seeks to label due legal process as frivolous, we have followed the rule of law at every step,' it said. The trust also challenged HDFC Bank's claim of a ₹ 65 crore loan tied to Splendour Gems, a firm owned by the Mehta family. 'The bank initially cited an outstanding of ₹ 5 crore. This sudden escalation to ₹ 65 crore is an imaginary figure, a smokescreen created by Jagdishan to distract regulators and the public from his own corruption,' the trust alleged. Among the more serious accusations is that Jagdishan accepted free medical treatment and was involved in facilitating illegal financial transactions—including a ₹ 2.05 crore bribe, ₹ 48 crore in undisclosed deposits, and ₹ 1.5 crore allegedly routed to doctors under the guise of CSR. 'The ₹ 48 crore was deposited without the consent of founder-trustees and without mandatory high court approval, despite an operational injunction. This constitutes gross contempt of court,' the statement said. Calling the bank's allegations baseless and unsupported by documentation, the Trust reiterated that it has never been a borrower of HDFC Bank. 'On the contrary, we have been a lender—placing ₹ 48 crore in fixed deposits and bonds,' it said. 'This is not just a legal battle. It is a stand for truth and institutional accountability. When the head of a major financial institution targets a charitable trust with falsehoods while failing to back his claims with documents, it becomes clear the intent is not justice but intimidation,' said Prashant Mehta, permanent trustee of LKMM Trust. In his plea before the High Court two days ago, Jagdishan has strongly denied all allegations, calling the FIR 'malicious and vindictive' and accusing the complainant of misusing the name of the Lilavati Trust to settle personal scores.
Indian Express
a day ago
- Indian Express
Lilavati Trust files Rs 1,000-crore defamation suit against HDFC Bank, its CEO
The Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust (LKMM Trust), which oversees the Lilavati Hospital in Bandra (West), has filed a defamation suit against the HDFC Bank and its Managing Director and CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan, seeking Rs 1,000 crore in damages. The Trust along with its authorised representative and trustee Prashant Mehta filed the suit in the Bombay High Court against Jagdishan, HDFC Bank and others. The Trust filed the suit last week, claiming the bank was running a 'deliberate and sustained smear campaign' against it. The Trust has also filed a criminal defamation complaint before the magistrate court in Girgaon under sections 356 (1) (defamation), 357 (breach of contract), among others, of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). As per case records, the magistrate court on June 16 issued notice to the bank, Jagdishan and others, and posted further hearing to July 18. The criminal complaint against Jagdishan alleges that he made malicious and derogatory statements against the Trust and its permanent trustee. 'The legal action aims to counter what the Trust views as a coordinated campaign to malign its reputation and obstruct its operations as a public charitable institution,' a statement by the Trust stated. Earlier this week, Jagdishan approached the Bombay High Court, challenging the FIR filed against him on a complaint filed by the Trust, which has accused him of accepting a bribe of Rs 2.05 crore to help a group consisting of one Chetan Mehta and other erstwhile trustees to retain illegal control over the Trust. On May 29, the magistrate court had ordered the Bandra police to register offences punishable under sections 406, 409 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and had directed the police to probe the matter as per section 175 (3) of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). The Bandra police registered the FIR on May 31.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
HDFC Bank CEO moves Bombay High Court over FIR by Lilavati Trust
HDFC Bank's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Sashidhar Jagdishan has moved the Bombay High Court, seeking quashing of the First Information Report (FIR) lodged against him by Prashant Mehta, a permanent trustee of the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, which oversees Lilavati Hospital. The FIR accused him of accepting a sum of ₹2.05 crore as a bribe to help the Chetan Mehta Group allegedly retain illegal control of the charitable trust. In his petition, Mr. Jagdishan has denied all allegations, terming the complaint as 'false and motivated,' and arguing that the FIR is a clear abuse of the process of law intended to malign his reputation. When the petition came up for hearing on Wednesday (June 18, 2025) before a Division Bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and Rajesh Patil, both the judges recused themselves from hearing the case. Later in the day, the case was mentioned before another Division Bench of Justice Sarang Kotwal and Justice Shyam Chandak, but Justice Kotwal recused from hearing the matter. The matter will now be reassigned to a new Bench by an administrative order of the Chief Justice and will be heard in due course of time. The FIR lodged earlier this month on June 6, with the Bandra Police Station under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant), and 420 (cheating) under Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, by the Trust through its authorised representative Prashant Mehta. The FIR was filed pursuant to an order of a Magistrate court at Bandra, following the Trust's application under Section 175(3) of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. A June 9 statement by the Trust claimed that the purported payment was part of a wider plan to loot the Trust and that the banker and his family enjoyed free medical treatment at the hospital. The Trust has further alleged that it has placed deposits and investments worth ₹ 48 crore with HDFC Bank since the financial year 2022, suggesting a conflict of interest. It also accused Mr. Jagdishan of offering ₹ 1.5 crore under the pretext of corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds, allegedly, to destroy and forge evidence in an internal Trust dispute. The Trust has also alleged that despite judicial findings and multiple complaints, HDFC Bank failed to act, violating Section 166 of the Companies Act and SEBI governance mandates. Senior advocate Amit Desai, representing Mr. Jagdishan, denied all the allegations and called them 'outrageous' and 'preposterous'. 'One of the most absurd allegations was that he received money from trustees. The absurdity of the allegation is that he allegedly received ₹2 crore to harass HDFC Bank borrowers,' Mr. Desai submitted. The FIR is a retaliatory measure stemming from HDFC Bank's recovery proceedings against Splendour Gems Limited — a company owned by the Mehta family — which has defaulted on loans amounting to ₹ 65.22 crore in loans as of May 31, he said. 'These actions follow recovery proceedings initiated by the bank against a company owned by the father of one of the trustees. They now use the façade of Lilavati Trust to take action against us,' Mr. Desai said. The petition read that the FIR is liable to be quashed by the High Court as it is an abuse of the legal process, and the allegations made in the FIR are wholly motivated by mala fide intentions and do not prima facie constitute any offence or make out a case against the petitioner. It also said that the petitioner has no relation whatsoever to the commission of the alleged offences, if any, and in fact the FIR is nothing but a malicious retaliation in relation to the ongoing recovery and enforcement proceedings initiated by HDFC Bank. 'The impugned order also ought to be quashed and set aside on the grounds that the impugned order is erroneous, bad in law as it has been passed in disregard to the mandatory requirements under Section 175 (3) of BNSS that should have been followed by the complainant.' The petition claimed that the present case against Mr. Jagdishan who has been recognised for his work by numerous awards and accolades, is nothing but a malicious attempt to scathe his name and reputation and of HDFC Bank that plays a significant role in the financial sphere of the country. 'Such criminal proceedings against the petitioner and the bank are the larger scheme of the debtors to scuttle away from paying the debt owned.'
India Today
2 days ago
- Business
- India Today
HDFC CEO seeks to cancel case filed by Lilavati Trust, calls it retaliation
HDFC Bank CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan has approached the Bombay High Court, seeking quashing of an FIR registered against him by the Bandra Police on May 31 in connection with an alleged bribery case involving the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, which operates the renowned Lilavati Hospital in FIR, filed following the direction of a Bandra Magistrate court, names Jagdishan and eight others for allegedly accepting bribes of over Rs 2 crore to help one faction of the Mehta family retain control of the Lilavati his petition, Jagdishan has also requested interim relief, urging the court to restrain Mumbai Police from taking any coercive action against him until the case is heard. The case stems from a long-running family dispute among the descendants of Kirtilal Mehta, the Trust's founder. The complainant, Prashant Mehta, who is currently a trustee, alleges that his father was harassed during recovery proceedings tied to a loan dispute, leading to his mental and physical distress and eventual taking charge, Prashant claims to have found a diary allegedly showing payments totalling Rs 2.05 crore made to Jagdishan and six others, allegedly on the directions of former trustee Chetan Mehta, as part of a scheme to harass his FIR accuses Jagdishan and others of conspiracy and bribery in aiding the opposing Trust his plea, Jagdishan has strongly denied the allegations, calling the case a malicious attempt to defame him and HDFC Bank. He stated that HDFC, along with a consortium of banks, had granted loans to Splendor Gems Limited in the firm defaulted, recovery proceedings were launched in 2002 against its guarantors, including Kishor Mehta, Prashant Mehta's father. An arrest warrant was issued in 2020, and though Kishor Mehta passed away in 2024, the proceedings continued against his Mehta is currently the trustee of Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust. Rajesh and Rajiv Mehta are his petition claims that the complaint was filed in retaliation, as Prashant and his mother Charu Mehta have now been implicated in the recovery proceedings as legal heirs of Kishor Mehta, who owed over Rs 65 crore in outstanding loans and argues that the FIR fails to disclose any cognisable offence and is an attempt to intimidate him and hinder recovery actions by the petition was mentioned before two division benches of the Bombay High Court, but both benches recused themselves from hearing the case. Jagdishan will now need to request the High Court administration to assign his petition to a new bench. IN THIS STORY#Mumbai
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
HDFC Bank CEO moves HC to quash ₹2.05 crore bribery FIR filed by Lilavati Trust
MUMBAI: HDFC Bank's managing director and CEO, Sashidhar Jagdishan, has moved the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of a First Information Report (FIR) lodged against him earlier this month in connection with an alleged financial and administrative scandal involving the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust (LKMM Trust), which manages the Lilavati Hospital in Bandra West. The FIR, registered on May 31, stems from a complaint by Prashant Mehta, a trustee of the Lilavati Trust, who alleged that Jagdishan accepted ₹2.05 crore in bribes between March 2022 and June 2023 to aid a group of erstwhile trustees—led by Chetan Mehta—to illegally retain control of the trust. The complaint also alleged a prolonged campaign of harassment against Mehta's father, Kishor Mehta, whose business was entangled in a loan dispute with HDFC Bank. Kishor Mehta died on May 20, 2024, allegedly after enduring sustained mental and emotional distress. The FIR, ordered by a Bandra magistrate on May 29, invoked serious charges under sections 406, 409 (criminal breach of trust), and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 175(3) of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). It alleges that diary entries and cash register photocopies unearthed by Prashant Mehta show systematic misuse of trust funds, including the ₹2.05 crore allegedly paid to Jagdishan. In his plea before the High Court, Jagdishan has strongly denied all allegations, calling the FIR 'malicious and vindictive' and accusing the complainant of misusing the name of the Lilavati Trust to settle personal scores. Represented by senior advocate Amit Desai, Jagdishan argued that the complaint is a retaliatory response to recovery proceedings initiated by HDFC Bank against Splendour Gems Ltd, a company owned by the Mehta family, which had defaulted on loans amounting to ₹65.22 crore. Desai contended that there is no evidence linking Jagdishan to the alleged transactions beyond unverifiable diary entries, and criticised the magistrate's order as flawed. 'Despite the absence of corroborative documents, and the complainant's failure to submit additional evidence, the magistrate still ordered a police investigation,' Jagdishan's petition stated, adding that proceeding on the basis of 'selective cash records and unauthenticated diary entries' was legally untenable. The plea has also sought a stay on further proceedings, including any coercive action or filing of a chargesheet, arguing that the HDFC chief could suffer 'grave loss and irreparable injury' if the FIR is not quashed. When the petition came up for hearing before a bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Rajesh S Patil, Justice Patil recused himself. The matter was then mentioned before Justice Sarang V Kotwal, who also recused himself citing prior association with one of the trustees. The matter will now be reassigned to a new bench. Meanwhile, the Bandra police have also registered a separate FIR on May 31 against Chetan Mehta, M/s Phoenix ARC Pvt Ltd, and others for alleged embezzlement of ₹2.25 crore from the trust. Accused parties in that case, including Phoenix ARC, Keki Elavia and Venkatu Srinivasan, have also approached the High Court seeking quashing of the embezzlement FIR. The High Court is expected to hear all related pleas in due course.
