A long-standing loan recovery dispute involving HDFC Bank and Kishor Mehta, a senior trustee of the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust (LKMMT) has brought to the fore complex questions around litigation strategy, family disputes, and humanitarian considerations in enforcement actions by financial institutions.
The Dispute
A series of accusations, counter accusations, clarifications, have clouded this case till now with the most recent being a letter shared to FinancialExpress.com from Charuben Kishor Mehta. This letter, addressed to HDFC Bank CEO & MD Sashidhar Jagdishan, raised concerns over what she described as “persistent and aggressive legal pursuit” against her 86-year-old husband, Kishor Mehta. Through the letter, dated April 2024, she had appealed for intervention in an ongoing recovery proceeding tied to a corporate loan from 2004 where Kishor Mehta was named as a guarantor in the case involving Splendour Gems Ltd.
Charuben Mehta claimed the recovery matter, which was initiated two decades ago, was effectively settled between 2004 and 2017.
HDFC Bank’s Response
However, according to an earlier HDFC Bank statement, Mehta family had defaulted on a bank loan provided back in 1995. The banking major said that they are abusing the legal process to thwart the recovery of the long outstanding loan due to the Bank. The Bank disclosed that Trustee Prashant Mehta and his family members allegedly owe substantial sums to HDFC Bank, which have remained unpaid for over two decades.
The Medical Concerns
In the letter, Charuben Mehta also raised medical concerns, stating that Kishor Mehta, who was then wheelchair-bound and reportedly suffering from gangrene and pulmonary fibrosis, was repeatedly hospitalized and was not in a condition to attend legal proceedings in person. She alleged that the Bank’s lawyers made misrepresentations in court regarding his health, pressing for his appearance even on the day of a major surgery.
Notably, per details shared in the letter, Kishore Mehta had deposited Rs 3.68 crore with the Bombay High Court in December 2023, following a court directive to make a 25 per cent deposit in relation to the claim, signaling a willingness to comply with interim requirements. Yet, according to the letter, over 50 court hearings took place in a six-month span, which the family claimed had exacerbated his health issues.
Through this letter, Charuben Mehta had urged Jagdishan to intervene to “stop this harassment” and requested an audience for the “resolution of this dispute”.
“As I write this letter, my husband continues to be in the ICU. I have all the medical records to show for the same. The severe deterioration in the health of Husband in the past 6 months is directly attributable to the harassment and terror that your Bank’s Legal Department and Lawyers have unleashed. The Doctors treating him have also confirmed the same linking his deterioration to the severe stress your Bank has caused him,” the letter stated.