Mumbai, June 18 (UNI) HDFC Bank Managing Director and CEO, Sashidhar Jagdishan, has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court, challenging the first information report (FIR) filed against him on a complaint by Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust (LKMM Trust), which owns the Lilavati Hospital, a prominent healthcare institution in Mumbai.

However, the bench, headed by Justice A S Gadkari, recused themselves from hearing the case on Wednesday.

The matter will now be reassigned to a new bench.

The FIR, lodged earlier this month, has levelled serious allegations against Jagdishan, accusing him of accepting a Rs 2.05 crore bribe to aid the Chetan Mehta Group in allegedly retaining illegal control over the Trust.

The complaint claims that the money was paid in exchange for financial and strategic advice to manipulate Trust affairs, which the Trust characterises as a misuse of authority by the HDFC Bank CEO.

During the hearing today, Senior Advocate Amit Desai, representing Jagdishan, denied the allegations, calling them “one of the most absurd” claims.

“It’s one of the most absurd allegations that he received money from trustees. The absurdity of the allegation is that he allegedly received Rs two crore to harass HDFC Bank borrowers,” Desai submitted.

He further argued that the FIR is a retaliatory move 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 Rs 65.22 crore as of May 31.

Desai stated that “these actions follow recovery proceedings initiated by the bank against a company owned by the father of one of the trustees.”

He said that the complaint was filed only after the Trust had failed to secure any favourable response from the Union Finance Minister, the Reserve Bank of India and the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

“They now use the facade of Lilavati Trust to take action against us,” he argued.

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