A division Bench of Justices MS Karnik and NR Borkar allowed Jagdishan’s plea seeking quashing of the FIR and also set aside the magistrate court’s May 29 order directing a police probe into the matter. The court, while granting relief, observed that the complaint was “non-bona fide” and quashed the case registered against the bank chief.
The FIR was lodged on a complaint by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust through its authorised representative and trustee, Prashant Kishor Mehta. The allegations claimed that Jagdishan had accepted a bribe of ₹2.05 crore to assist a group comprising Chetan Mehta and other former trustees in allegedly retaining illegal control over the trust that manages the hospital.
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“In our view, the complaint is nothing but a counterblast to the recovery proceedings initiated, and the materials on record do not at all justify an investigation into the claim made by the complainant,” the court said.
It also refused to accept the complainant’s claim that the Trust’s founder, Kishore Mehta, died in 2024 because of pressure mounted by the bank and said the bank officials cannot be blamed for it.
The bench also noted that there was “serious acrimony, distrust and strained relations to the core” between the erstwhile trustees and the present trustees, and the ripples of this are being felt by the bank official.
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The court, while quashing the FIR, said continuance of the same would be nothing but an “abuse of the process of court” and that the same was not a bona fide complaint. The court allowed Jagdishan’s plea seeking quashing of the FIR and to set aside the magistrate court’s May 2025 order calling for a police probe.
The case is linked to the HDFC Bank’s recovery efforts against Splendour Gems Ltd, a company owned and managed by the Mehta family, for dues totalling ₹65.22 crore.
The Trust alleged that a diary found during loan recovery proceedings involving a company linked to one of its trustees indicated payments totalling ₹2.05 crore to Jagdishan, allegedly on the directions of Chetan Mehta.
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The police registered an FIR against Jagdishan on May 31, 2025, following a magistrate’s order to take action under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 409 (criminal breach of trust by banker, public servant, etc.) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.
Jagdishan, in his plea, stated that the case was a fallout of long-standing recovery and enforcement proceedings initiated by HDFC Bank against the family of trust founders for default in repayment of dues exceeding Rs 65 crore.
The complaint alleged that Chetan Mehta and others fraudulently and illegally gained control of the Trust and, with corrupt motive, used its funds for their own gains and for personal litigation.
Shares of HDFC Bank Ltd ended at ₹772.55, down by ₹5.35, or 0.69%, on the BSE today, May 5.
