Outlook Business Desk
The Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, which runs Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital, has urged the RBI, SEBI and the Finance Ministry to suspend and prosecute HDFC Bank MD and CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan in connection with an alleged case of financial fraud.
On May 30, 2025, following a complaint from the LKMM Trust, a Bandra magistrate instructed Mumbai Police to file an FIR, marking the start of a major corporate controversy in India.
The Trust alleges that Jagdishan received ₹2.05 crore in unaccounted cash from former trustees to harass a current trustee’s father, with the payment recorded in a seized handwritten cash diary.
LKMM also accuses Jagdishan of illegally depositing ₹25 crore of the Trust’s funds into an HDFC Bank account without board approval or oversight, highlighting serious governance lapses and possible bank complicity.
In other allegation, the Trust said that ₹1.5 crore was paid to hospital staff, supposedly masked as CSR donations from HDFC Bank. It claimed that the money was actually a bribe to silence leaks and cover up internal disputes.
HDFC Bank has rejected all accusations, describing them as "baseless", "malicious" and "preposterous." The bank claims these legal actions are attempts to obstruct a loan recovery process that has been ongoing for over two decades.
HDFC Bank has backed Jagdishan. It plans to take legal action, including filing defamation suits, and claims the FIR is flawed and obtained through manipulation. The Bank has defended its leadership and institutional integrity. HDFC Bank says the FIR is not about real financial problems but is a way to delay the legal case.
The conflict involves current trustee Kirti Mehta and his son, and former trustees Prashant and Dilip Mehta. Both sides are blaming each other for forgery and misuse of Trust money, leading to a long legal battle.
Over the past two years, the Trust has filed multiple FIRs accusing former trustees of misappropriating more than ₹1,400 crore. The allegations include inflated legal fees, suspicious procurements, and forged documents, apart from a forensic audit that revealed other financial irregularities.