Mumbai, June 26 (Reporter) HDFC Bank Managing Director and CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan has filed a petition at 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, today during the hearing, Prashant Mehta, the Permanent Trustee of the Trust, raised an objection to Justice Nitin Jain hearing the plea, citing that the judge holds shares in HDFC Bank. Although Justice Jain had voluntarily disclosed his shareholding, Mehta argued that it posed a conflict of interest. Jagdishan’s lawyers, however, submitted that they had no objections to Justice Jain being part of the bench. Despite this, the Court acknowledged Mehta’s objections and directed that the matter be listed before another bench that does not include Justice Jain. The FIR, lodged earlier this month, has levelled serious allegations against Jagdishan, accusing him of accepting a 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. Senior Advocate Amit Desai, representing Jagdishan, had earlier 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 2 crore to harass HDFC Bank borrowers,” Desai had submitted. According to Desai, 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 ₹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 the Lilavati Trust to take action against us,” he had contended earlier...////...