GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 4th July: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea by HDFC Bank CEO and MD Sashidhar Jagdishan seeking the quashing of an FIR lodged against him for alleged cheating and fraud. The FIR was filed by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, which runs the renowned Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai.
A bench comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and R. Mahadevan declined to intervene in the matter, noting that the Bombay High Court is already scheduled to hear Jagdishan’s plea on July 14.
“We sympathise… the case was initially listed for hearing on June 18 and June 20. We hope and trust that the matter will be taken up on July 14,” the bench remarked.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Jagdishan, urged the court for interim protection, terming the FIR “frivolous” and a result of an internal dispute among trustees of the hospital. However, the apex court said it was “improper” to intervene when the matter was already under consideration before the Bombay High Court.
Jagdishan had approached the Supreme Court a day earlier, challenging the FIR registered at Bandra police station, which followed a magistrate’s order under Section 175(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
According to the complaint by the Trust, Jagdishan allegedly accepted a bribe of ₹2.05 crore in return for providing financial advice that aided the Chetan Mehta Group in unlawfully retaining control over the Trust’s governance. The complaint further alleges that Jagdishan abused his position as the head of a major private bank to intervene in the internal matters of the charitable trust.
He has been booked for cheating, criminal breach of trust, and criminal breach of trust by a public servant, raising serious questions around corporate conduct and alleged interference in nonprofit governance.
The Bombay High Court’s upcoming hearing on July 14 is expected to be a critical step in determining the legal course of action in the high-profile case.
