SC refuses to entertain HDFC Bank CEO's plea challenging FIR by Lilavati Trust
New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea by HDFC Bank CEO and MD Sashidhar Jagdishan challenging an FIR of cheating and fraud registered against him on a complaint by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, which runs the prominent Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai.
A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and R Mahadevan noted that the matter was already listed for hearing on July 14 before the Bombay High Court.
"We are not inclined to entertain the matter. We will not apply our mind to the merits. If matter is not heard on 14th, you come back.
"We hope and trust that high court will take the matter up on the designated date," the bench said.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Jagdishan, submitted that the bank has been roped in a private dispute.
"The idea is to summon the MD to police station. No proceedings should be taken against the MD," he said.
Rohatgi said they had moved the Bombay High Court but three benches of the high court have so far recused themselves from hearing the matter.
According to the complaint filed by the Trust, Jagdishan allegedly accepted a bribe of Rs 2.05 crore in exchange for providing financial advice to help the Chetan Mehta Group retain illegal and undue control over the Trust's governance.
The Trust has accused Jagdishan of misusing his position as the head of a leading private bank to interfere in the internal affairs of a charitable organisation.
Jagdishan's plea seeking quashing of the first information report (FIR) was first listed in the high court in June.
The FIR against Jagdishan was registered at the Bandra police station following an order by a Bandra magistrate court under section 175 (3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), based on an application moved by the Trust.
He was booked under alleged charges of cheating and criminal breach of trust by a public servant.
In a public statement issued earlier this month, the Trust alleged that the Rs 2.05 crore payment was part of a larger conspiracy to "loot" the Trust and manipulate its decision-making processes in favour of the Chetan Mehta Group.
The Trust has also filed a petition before the high court seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter.
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Women BJP MLAs protest against opposition in UP assembly premises
Lucknow (PTI): Women BJP MLAs held a protest in the Vidhan Bhawan complex before the one-day special session of Uttar Pradesh assembly, slamming the opposition for defeating the passage of a bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Law, in the Lok Sabha.
This followed another demonstration by Samajwadi Party MLAs, who alleged that the BJP was misleading public in the name of women's reservation.
The women BJP legislators assembled in front of Chaudhary Charan Singh's statue in the assembly premises, holding banners inscribed with the slogan "Insult to Matrushakti (women's power), India will not tolerate it". The protesting members entered the main hall of Vidhan Bhawan carrying the banners.
Participating in the protest, the state Minister for Women Welfare and Child Development, Baby Rani Maurya, told reporters that all opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, had opposed the women's reservation, a stance for which they would have to pay a heavy political price.
"On this issue, all of us women stand united. We will ensure that we secure our reservation," she said.
BJP MLA Ketki Singh remarked that their protest represents the collective outrage of millions of women across the state.
Singh asserted that the opposition has betrayed women by creating hurdles in the path of women's reservation. The current demonstration is merely the beginning, and very soon, women from every street, intersection and household will join the protest movement, she said.
Minister Vijaylakshmi Gautam said, "We strongly condemn the despicable act committed by the Samajwadi Party and the Congress in an attempt to hold back 'half the population' (women). Their action was directed against the very bill that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had introduced to empower and strengthen Nari Shakti (women's power), and which he strived to pass expeditiously."
Uttar Pradesh assembly is holding a one-day special session on Thursday. During the session, the government is set to move a censure motion against the opposition parties over their failure to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Act, in the Lok Sabha.
