Supreme Court Declines HDFC Bank CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan’s Plea Pending Before Bombay High Court

Supreme Court Declines HDFC Bank CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan’s Plea Pending Before Bombay High Court

The complaint against him was lodged by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust

The Supreme Court has declined to arbitrate the plea filed by HDFC Bank CEO and Managing Director Sashidhar Jagdishan challenging the First Information Report (FIR) against him.

The complaint was lodged by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, which owns Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital.

A bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice R Mahadevan noted that the plea was already pending before the Bombay High Court. The court ruled, "It will be improper for us to hear the plea. The case is listed before the High Court on 14 July.”.

The judges added, "You come back. What’s your apprehension? We can’t hear you properly. We have noted that the case was initially listed for hearing on 18 20 and 25 June. We hope and trust that the matter will be taken up on 14 July.

Appearing for HDFC, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi submitted, "A frivolous FIR is lodged because of a personal dispute. The bank has been roped into a private dispute. The idea is to summon him to the police station. It is affecting my reputation.”

While suggesting, "Argue all that before the high court,” the bench noted that many judges of the high court had recused from the matter and declined interference.

The FIR was registered recently by the Bandra Police Station under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant), and 420 (cheating) of the IPC.

The Trust complained that Jagdishan accepted a Rs.2.05 crore bribe, in exchange for providing financial advice to help the Chetan Mehta Group retain illegal and undue control over the Trust’s governance. It accused him of misusing his position as the head of a leading private bank and interfering in the affairs of a charitable organisation.

It protested that Jagdishan and his family received ‘free medical treatment’ from Lilavati Hospital. The benefit was not acknowledged or refuted by the bank. Moreover, the Trust placed deposits and investments of Rs.48 crore with the bank since the financial year 2022, implying a conflict of interest in the ongoing relationship.

The complaint alleged that Jagdishan offered Rs.1.5 crore under the pretext of corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds. But it was to destroy or forge the evidence.

Meanwhile, Jagadishan had earlier approached the Bombay High Court for quashing the case. However, three high court judges recused from hearing the matter. On 30 June, Jagdishan pressed for interim relief before the high court. However, when the matter was listed for 14 July, he approached the top court.