InfraLive September-15, 2025

A Hitman Banker & His Terrorising Litigation InfraLIVE September 15, 2025 26 www.infralive.com would have spent over Rs 3.75 crore to 4.50 crore to one lawyer alone. Even when Mr Kishor was in serious condition and admitted in the ICU, HDFC kept insisting for this 86 year person's production in the court and also falsely stated that the medical certificate filed in the court on an affidavit was false. Citing all these developments, CharuMehta, wife ofMr Kishor and also Permanent Trustee of the Trust, wrote a detailed letter to Mr Sashidhar seeking appointment for resolution. Some parts of her letter have been reproduced below: - “In past 6 months or so, the said litigation has been put up by your Bank not less than 50 to 60 times before various courts of law. And at every forum the only prayer that is being sought is the arrest and incarceration ofmyHusband… “My Husband has further arranged to have deposited an amount of Rs 3.68 crores in the Bombay High Court in Decem- ber 2023 pursuant to the direc- tion of deposit of 25%of amount. Instead of accepting that posi- tion, and allowing the Writ Peti- tion to follow a normal course, the only pleading made by your lawyers was for my Husband to be held on an additional ground contempt and thereby seek his arrest and incarceration. This shows that your Bank officials are more interested in my Hus- band's incarceration than real resolution of disputes. “Despite representatives of my Husband approaching your Bank officials multiple times to seek a resolution of disputes through communication and talks, your Bank officials have blatantly refused and denied these opportunities. “This has caused deep trauma to my already ailing 86 year old husband who is now suffering from Gangrene and fibros is in lungs. In the past he had under- gone Triple Bypass Surgeries and spine surgeries and there- fore was and still is confined to wheelchair. “This barrage of unwar- ranted terror litigation and stress of constantly seeking his arrest and incarceration from your Bank has left him even further traumatised and men- tally and physically weakened his body so much so, that his oxygen saturation levels have fallen to critical levels and he was required to be admitted to ICU multiple times in the past fewweeks. o, far we have explained S how there was a deep n e x u s b e t w e e n M r Sashidhar, MD & CEO of HDFC Bank and the members of Group-2 in the Mehtas family. In this part, we reveal the reason for his push for the arrest of certain members of Group-1. Clause 14 of the Trust Deed (pg 28 & 29) states that if a Trustee is adjudicated as insolvent or is con- victed of a criminal offence, that Trustee will get substituted by another suitable person. Therefore, the focus of HDFC Bank was not recovery, but declar- ing members of Group-1 as insol- vent and/or getting them con- victed. In part-1 it was detailed how HDFC did not take any action for 13 years for the recovery of its dues, even after obtaining DRT order in its favour in 2004. Their sole pur- pose was to take the outstanding to an unmanageable level due to bur- den of high interest rate. On June 16, 2001, the outstanding was just Rs 12.82 crore, which included principal as well as interest. HDFC kept quiet on recovery for 13 years, while other lenders settled their dues through asset sale/OTS rote. On January 1, 2024, HDFC filed an affidavit before DRT stating that the outstanding dues against Beau- tiful Diamonds Ltd (BDL) and its guarantors who happen to be the members of Group-1, is Rs 65 crore if the amount is calculated @16 per cent simple interest rate, andRs 451 crore if the interest is compounded. The interest was calculated upto November 8, 2023 (pg 30). As explained in part-1, HDFC kept pushing for the arrest since 2018, and turned more aggressive on this issue in 2023. During this period, HDFC had engaged senior advocate Mr Kevic Setalwad, who appeared at least 50 to 60 times, and whose fee is Rs 7.50 lakh per appearance, even for mentioning the matter. At this rate, HDFC Part-4 A Hitman Banker & His Terrorising Litigation