HDFC Bank CEO and Managing Director Shashidhar Jagdishan has moved the Supreme Court of India seeking quashing of the criminal FIR filed against him by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi mentioned the plea for urgent mention before a bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and K. Vinod Chandran. Highlighting the gravity of the matter, Rohatgi said:
“A frivolous FIR has been filed against the MD and the bank by the trustees of Lilavati Hospital, who are in a dispute with another set of trustees. The bank needs to recover money from them. To build pressure, they have filed this FIR against the MD through a magistrate.”
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He further told the court that the matter has been delayed considerably because:
“Three benches of the Bombay High Court have recused themselves from hearing the matter. Now the next possible date is July 14. In the meantime, the bank is suffering every day.”
Following this submission, the Supreme Court bench agreed to urgently list the matter for hearing.
According to the FIR filed by the Lilavati Trust, Jagdishan is accused of accepting a bribe of Rs 2.05 crore from former trustee Chetan Mehta. The FIR claims that this was in exchange for financial advice and assistance, which allegedly allowed Mehta to retain control over the administration of the trust.
It also alleged that Jagdishan misused his position as the CEO of HDFC Bank to interfere in the internal affairs of the trust.
Repeated recuse in Bombay High Court
The case has faced delays in the Bombay High Court due to the judges recusing themselves multiple times:
- Initially, the case was listed before Justices Ajay Gadkari and Rajesh Patil. However, Justice Patil recused himself citing personal difficulty.
- Jagdishan's legal team, led by senior advocate Amit Desai, later mentioned the case before Justices Sarang Kotwal and Shyam Chandak. But Justice Kotwal also recused himself.
- The case was finally listed before Justices Mahesh Sonak and Jitendra Jain. However, Justice Jain recused himself after it was disclosed that he held shares in HDFC Bank, which led to objections regarding conflict of interest.
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"As per the earlier administrative order of the Bombay High Court, cases relating to the Lilavati Trust are not to be listed before six specific judges."
This administrative limitation further limited the scope of hearing of the case at the High Court level.
