Connect with us
Wednesday,10-December-2025
Breaking News

Maharashtra

Mumbai: Lilavati Hospital Plaint Alleging Harassment By HDFC Bank Is Bid To Avoid Paying Dues, Says Bombay HC

Published

on

Mumbai: Lilavati Hospital Plaint Alleging Harassment By HDFC Bank Is Bid To Avoid Paying Dues, Says Bombay HC

Mumbai, Sep 24: The Bombay High Court has held that a complaint by the Lilavati Hospital’s trustee alleging that harassment by HDFC Bank led to the death of his father and the hospital’s founder was an attempt to avoid payment of dues.

A division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande said filing the complaint before the state minorities commission was “nothing but an attempt to wriggle out of responsibilities”.

The judgement was passed on September 18.

The court quashed the Commission’s show cause notice to the HDFC Bank and its managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) in July this year, directing them to appear before it on August 1.

The Commission was hearing a complaint filed by Rajesh Mehta, permanent trustee of the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, which runs the Lilavati Hospital here, alleging severe harassment and mental torture by the senior management and recovery department of the bank to him and his father, Kishor Mehta.

The complainant claimed the bank was in collusion with certain erstwhile trustees of the hospital trust, and this harassment caused the death of Kishor Mehta on May 20, 2024.

He alleged that the senior management had kept the sword of arrest hanging over Kishor Mehta, which resulted in his untimely death.

The Mehtas belong to the minority Jain community.

The bank, in its plea in the high court, challenged the notice and refuted the allegations, saying the complaint before the Commission was filed only to circumvent the recovery proceedings it had initiated.

The court conceded and said the complaint filed by Rajesh Mehta 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.

The bench 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 said the Commission had acted beyond its jurisdiction by issuing notice to the bank.

The court, while quashing the show cause notice issued to the HDFC bank’s managing director and CEO, said it was done so “without jurisdiction and was in violation of the principles of natural justice”.

The court 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.

The bench said it was “really doubtful” whether the provisions of the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission Act intended to cover an individual complaint like the present one.

In 2020, the recovery officer passed an order directing the civil imprisonment of Rajesh Mehta and Kishor Mehta, which the courts confirmed, and an arrest warrant was also issued in 2023 against Rajesh Mehta, it said.

It further noted that the Mehta family had filed 15 proceedings on the issue before a civil court, the high court and 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,” the high court said.

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

Maharashtra

Preparations for Sunni Dawat-e-Islami’s three-day global Sunni gathering in full swing

Published

on

Mumbai: Like every year, this year too, the 33rd annual gathering of the Sunni Dawat-e-Islami Movement is being held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, December 12, 13 and 14 at Azad Maidan, Wadi Noor, opposite CST, Mumbai. Like last year, this year too, the gathering on the first day, Friday, will be for women only, while the remaining two days will be reserved for men. Insha Allah, many scholars, preachers and mashaikhs from the country and abroad will participate in this global gathering. The preparations for the gathering were started last Saturday in the evening after the weekly central gathering. Urdu Media In-charge Maulana Mazhar Hussain Alimi said that the leaders of the movement are making full efforts to make the three-day gathering a success. Efforts are being made to provide all possible facilities so that the audience and attendees do not face any kind of trouble. As per tradition, this year too, the three-day global gathering will be broadcast live on sdichannel, which will be directly accessible to those who wish to learn religious teachings from all over the world. The women’s gathering on the first day will feature speeches on important topics such as “Women’s Intellectual Taste”, “Women’s Real Ornament: High Character and Modesty”, and “Women’s Share in Inheritance”. In addition, the researcher of modern issues Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Nizamuddin (President Mufti of Jamia Ashrafia Mubarakpur) will answer questions asked by women about Islam. Ameer Sunni Dawat-e-Islami and the spiritual leader of this gathering, the great preacher Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Shakir Noori, has appealed to people to participate in the gathering as much as possible, understand the message of religion and act on it. Ameer Sunni Dawat-e-Islami has said that they should also come and bring their friends and thus become a means of transmitting religion. He has appealed to Muslims to send women from their homes to the gathering on the first day so that they can Attend the gathering to learn religious teachings, improve themselves and advise others. There will be important speeches by great scholars and preachers in the gathering on the second and third days. There will be detailed speeches on important topics such as “The Miracle of the Holy Quran”, “The Spiritual Life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), “The Envoy of Peace (PBUH), “Searching for Humans in Humans”, “Ethics and Spiritual Training of Youth”, “Religious Information and Artificial Intelligence”, “Signs of the Pleasure and Displeasure of Allah Almighty”. Islamic thinker Allama Qamar-uz-Zaman Azmi (Secretary General World Islamic Mission London) will deliver a speech on the third day. Insha Allah, the commentator of the Quran, Khalifah Mufti Azam Hind, Hazrat Allama Zaheeruddin Khan Rizvi, will also deliver an insightful speech. In the gathering on the third day, there will be a gathering after Zuhr prayers, followed by a lecture on the latest issues of Bukhari Sharif, in which the last hadith of Bukhari Sharif will be delivered by Hazrat Allama Mufti Muhammad Nizamuddin Rizvi (Jami’ Ashrafia Mubarakpur). On this occasion, prayers are accepted in the presence of the Lord, so be sure to participate in this prayer as well.

In order to facilitate the participants of the gathering, a large number of ablution rooms and toilets are being built, and more than sixty cameras are being installed throughout the gathering as part of security arrangements. In addition, about two thousand women will volunteer for the women’s gathering, while more than one thousand male volunteers will serve in the gathering on the second and third days. The police have requested the participants of the gathering not to bring handy cameras, laptops, wires, batteries, matchboxes, lighters, nail cutters and other electronic equipment that runs on batteries. For security reasons, parking of motorcycles or any other vehicle around the Azad Maidan is not allowed.

Continue Reading

Maharashtra

Azmi demands in Nagpur Assembly that Navi Mumbai Airport be named after Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj

Published

on

Mumbai: In the Mumbai Maharashtra Nagpur winter session, Member of Assembly Abu Asim Azmi has demanded that the Navi Mumbai Airport be named after Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj. He said that he died in Mumbai on May 6, 1922, so the Navi Mumbai Airport should be named after Shahu Maharaj. He said that Shahu Maharaj has always served Dalits, backward classes, educational reservation and equality and it is to his credit that Dalits and backward classes are provided with reservation and other facilities. He said that the Navi Mumbai Airport should be named after a great leader. Since the airport is a transportation hub, naming the airport after Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj is a tribute to him.

Continue Reading

Maharashtra

Azmi’s unique protest… Wearing a mask, he reached Nagpur Assembly with a banner demanding effective action to end toxic air pollution in Mumbai, SMS company

Published

on

Mumbai: Air pollution and toxic atmosphere are common in Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar. The people of Shivaji Nagar and Govindi are facing toxic fumes every day. Successive governments have neglected this area because it is a poor neighbourhood.

On the second day of the winter session of the Assembly today, the Samajwadi Party (SP) made a clear demand.

It has demanded the immediate closure of the SMS company, RMC plant, and dumping ground and made it clear to the government that it should stop playing with the lives of the common man.
The government should take effective steps to eliminate this toxic air pollution. Abu Asim Azmi said that due to the SMS company in Govandi, the average age of people has increased to 39 years and diseases are spreading due to burning waste and chemical materials in it, so it should be banned immediately. He further said that clean sanitation and other facilities should be available in Govandi and such a factory should be closed so that the people can live a healthy life. Abu Asim Azmi protested against the toxic air outside the Nagpur Assembly in a very unique way by holding a banner and wearing a mask.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending