The Bombay High Court has quashed FIRs registered against HDFC Bank CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan and officials of Phoenix ARC, holding that the complaint lacked bona fides and amounted to an abuse of the criminal process.
A Division Bench of Justice M. S. Karnik and Justice N. R. Borkar noted that although courts must ordinarily be slow to interfere at the stage of investigation, an exception arises where the proceedings reflect “personal vendetta writ large on the face of the record.”
The Court held that mere disclosure of ingredients of an offence is not sufficient to sustain criminal proceedings if the complaint itself appears mala fide. It cautioned against a mechanical approach of allowing investigations to proceed solely on a prima facie reading, reiterating the principles laid down in State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal, 1992 Supp (1) SCC 335.
Observing that the dispute stemmed from strained relations among members managing the Lilavati Trust, the Bench found that continuation of proceedings against the petitioners would amount to misuse of criminal law and could potentially deter legitimate recovery actions.
While quashing the FIRs against the bank and ARC officials, the Court clarified that it was not expressing any opinion on allegations against other accused, including erstwhile trustees.
The Court also declined requests to transfer the probe to the CBI, holding that the plea was premature as it was filed within weeks of the FIR and before the Economic Offences Wing could effectively commence investigation.
Appearances:
For the Petitioners:
- Mr. Amit Desai, Senior Advocate a/w Mr. D.P. Singh, Senior Advocate, Mr. Sandeep Singhi, Mr. Himanshu Sinha, Ms. Chitra Rentala, Mr. Gopal Krishna Shenoy, Ms. Kriti Srivastava, Mr. Ritesh Desai, Mr. Parikshith K., Ms. Shravani Maddirala, Mr. Utkarsh Mishra, i/b Trilegal, for the Petitioner in WP No. 3205 of 2025.
- Mr. Ravi Kadam, Senior Advocate a/w Mr. Himanshu Sinha, Ms. Chitra Rentala, Ms. Kriti Srivastava, Mr. Parikshith K., Ms. Shravani Maddirala, Mr. Utkarsh Mishra, i/b Trilegal, for the Petitioner in WP No. 3215 of 2025.
- Mr. Charles De Souza a/w Ms. Manaswi Agrawal, Mr. Shantanu Ray, Ms. Pragati Gothi, Ms. Salomi Kalwade, i/b Meraki Chambers, for the Petitioner in WP No. 3216 of 2025.
- Mr. Karan Kadam a/w Mr. Nikhil Rajani, Mr. Ajay Deshmane, i/b V. Deshpande & Co., for the Petitioner in WP No. 3217 of 2025.
- Mr. Devadatt Kamat, Senior Advocate a/w Mr. Tarun Mehra, Mr. Utsav Trivedi, Mr. Monish Bhatia, Ms. Minal Chandnani, Mr. Harsh Pandya, Mr. Shivam Bhushan, Mr. H. N. Thakore, Ms. Jyoti Ghag, Mr. Shailesh Prajapati, Mr. Ankit Singhal, i/b Dua Associates, for the Petitioner in WP No. 3227 of 2025.
- Mr. Aabad Ponda, Senior Advocate a/w Mr. Rizwan Merchant, Mr. Monish Bhatia, Ms. Minal Chandnani, Mr. H. N. Thakore, Ms. Jyoti Ghag, Mr. Shailesh Prajapati, Mr. Ankit Singhal, i/b Dua Associates, for the Petitioner in WP No. 3313 of 2025.
For the Respondents:
- Mr. Devadatt Kamat, Senior Advocate a/w Mr. Utsav Trivedi, Ms. Shivani Bhushan, Mr. Harsh Pandya, Mr. Monish Bhatia, Ms. Minal Chandnani, Ms. Pooja Kothari, Ms. Urvi Gupte, Ms. Etika Srivastava, Ms. Tanvi Mate, Ms. Nishi Doshi, Mr. Raghav Dharmadhikari, i/b Rashmikant & Partners, for Respondent No. 3 in WP No. 3205 of 2025.
- Mr. Devadatt Kamat, Senior Advocate a/w Mr. Aabad Ponda, Senior Advocate, Mr. Monish Bhatia, Ms. Minal Chandnani, Ms. Barkha Motwani, Mr. Rajesh Ranglani, i/b MRB Legal, for Respondent No. 3 in WP Nos. 3215 and 3217 of 2025.
- Ms. Pooja Kothari a/w Ms. Urvi Gupte, Ms. Etika Srivastava, Ms. Tanvi Mate, Ms. Nishi Doshi, Mr. Raghav Dharmadhikari, i/b Rashmikant & Partners, for Respondent No. 3 in WP No. 3216 of 2025.
- Mr. Devadatt Kamat, Senior Advocate a/w Mr. Aabad Ponda, Senior Advocate, Mr. Hemant Ingle, Mr. Abhishek Prabhu, Mr. H. N. Thakore, Ms. Jyoti Ghag, Mr. Shailesh Prajapati, Mr. Ankit Singhal, i/b Dua Associates, for Respondent No. 4 in WP Nos. 3205, 3215, 3216 and 3217 of 2025.
- Mr. Amit Desai, Senior Advocate a/w Mr. D.P. Singh, Senior Advocate, Mr. Sandeep Singhi, Mr. Himanshu Sinha, Ms. Chitra Rentala, Mr. Gopal Krishna Shenoy, Ms. Kriti Srivastava, Mr. Parikshith K., Ms. Shravani Maddirala, Mr. Utkarsh Mishra, i/b Trilegal, for Respondent No. 5 in WP No. 3227 of 2025.
- Mr. Sudeep Pasbola, Senior Advocate a/w Ms. Lakshmi Raman, Ms. Manisha Prajapati, Ms. Mhendi Nakrani, i/b Dhiren H. Shah, for Respondent Nos. 6, 10 and 11 in WP Nos. 3227 and 3313 of 2025.
- Mr. Charles De Souza a/w Ms. Manaswi Agrawal, Mr. Shantanu Ray, Ms. Pragati Gothi, Ms. Salomi Kalwade, i/b Meraki Chambers, for Respondent No. 13 in WP No. 3313 of 2025.
- Mr. Amit Munde, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) a/w Mr. Jai Vohra, Mr. Shantanu Nakashe, for CBI/ACB (Mumbai), for Respondent No. 2 in WP Nos. 3227 and 3313 of 2025.
- Smt. Mahalaxmi Ganpati, APP a/w Smt. M. S. Bajoria, APP, Mr. Pankaj Deokar, APP, for the State.
- API Rajendra Shivade a/w P.I. Mundale, EOW, Mumbai.
