HDFC Bank CEO moves SC against FIR by Lilavati Trust; hearing on Friday
HDFC Bank CEO and MD Sashidhar Jagdishan on Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of an FIR for alleged cheating and fraud registered against him by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, which runs Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai.
A Bench of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice K Vinod Chandran agreed to take it up on Friday after senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi mentioned the matter for urgent listing.
“This is an urgent matter. I request for a listing tomorrow on behalf of the HDFC bank and its MD. A frivolous FIR has been lodged against the MD and the bank by trustees of Lilavati hospital who are litigating against the other group of trustees," Rohatgi submitted.
“The bank has to recover money from them. In order to twist the arm, they have lodged an FIR through a magistrate against the MD," he told the Bench.
Rohatgi said Jagdishan has approached the top court as three Benches of the Bombay High Court have so far recused themselves from hearing the matter and the next tentative date given for hearing in the high court was July 14. “Every day the bank is suffering," he said.
The Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust alleged that Jagdishan accepted a bribe of Rs 2.05 crore in exchange for providing financial advice to help the Chetan Mehta Group retain illegal and undue control over the Trust’s governance.
The Trust accused Jagdishan of misusing his position as the head of a leading private bank to interfere in the internal affairs of a charitable organisation.
The FIR against Jagdishan was registered at the Bandra police station following an order by a Bandra magistrate court under section 175(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), based on an application moved by the Trust.
He was booked under alleged charges of cheating, criminal breach of trust, and criminal breach of trust by a public servant.
The Trust alleged that the Rs 2.05 crore payment was part of a larger conspiracy to “loot" the Trust and manipulate its decision-making processes in favour of the Chetan Mehta Group. It has also filed a petition before the high court seeking a CBI probe into the matter.
India