Mumbai hospital trustee's plaint alleging harassment by HDFC Bank is bid to avoid paying dues: HC

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The Bombay High Court (HC) has held that Lilavati Hospital's trustee, who had claimed that harassment by HDFC Bank led to the death of his father, made the allegations to avoid the payment of dues, news agency PTI reported.

The HC's division bench, comprising Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande, said that filing the complaint before the state minorities commission was "nothing but an attempt to wriggle out of responsibilities".

During the judgment, which was passed on September 18, the court quashed the commission's show cause notice issued in July to the bank as well as its managing director and chief executive officer (CEO), directing them to appear before it on August 1.

The commission was hearing a complaint filed by Rajesh Mehta, the permanent trustee of the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, which runs the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai. Mehta had alleged severe harassment and mental torture by senior management and the recovery department of the bank to him and his father and and the hospital's founder, Kishor.

Mehta had claimed that the bank was in collusion with certain erstwhile trustees of the Mumbai hospital. The bank's senior management kept the sword of arrest hanging over Kishor, leading to his untimely death on May 20, alleged Mehta.

The Mehtas belong to the minority Jain community.

Bombay HC slams minorities' commission

The bank, in its plea in the court, challenged the commission's notice and refuted the allegations. It said that the complaint before the commission was filed only to circumvent the recovery proceedings it had initiated.

The court conceded and said that the complaint filed by the Mumbai hospital trustee was "nothing but an attempt to short-circuit the procedure adopted by the HDFC Bank against its borrowers and to face an action as a debtor, who was jointly and severally liable to pay an amount of Rs 14 crore".

"On the pretext that since he (Rajesh Mehta) is a member of the Jain community, he cannot knock on the doors of the Commission and get orders passed," the bench said.

HC noted that if a liability of recovery of dues is fastened upon the complainant, he cannot take benefit of being a member of a minority community to wriggle out of the same.

It also slammed the commission and said that it had acted beyond its jurisdiction by issuing notice to the bank.

The court quashed the show cause notice issued to the HDFC Bank's managing director and CEO. The bench stated that the notice was issued "without jurisdiction and was in violation of the principles of natural justice".

The judges also noted that the commission is empowered to make recommendations to ensure effective implementation and enforcement of all safeguards provided in the Constitution, laws enacted by the Parliament and the state legislature and those contained in the policies and schemes for minorities.

It was "really doubtful" whether the provisions of the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission Act intended to cover an individual complaint like the present one, the bench stated.

In 2020, the recovery officer passed an order directing the civil imprisonment of Mehta and Kishor, which the courts confirmed, and an arrest warrant was accordingly issued last year against the trustee, the court said.

It further noted that the Mehta family had filed 15 proceedings on the issue before a civil court, HC as well as the Supreme Court.

"When Mr Mehta (Rajesh Mehta) was unable to taste success in either of the proceedings, to short circuit the payment of the amount due under the recovery certificate and to avoid arrest, the present complaint was filed before the Minorities Commission," HC observed.

The court also restrained the commission from proceeding with the complaint by summoning the petitioners (bank).

(With PTI inputs)