HC proposes to appoint panel of administrators on Lilavati Trust

The bench has posted all the matters for further hearing on June 12, when it is likely to pass an order appointing a panel of administrators on the trust

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has proposed to appoint a committee of administrators on the Lilavati Kiritlal Mehta Medical Trust (LKMMT), which runs the Lilavati Hospital in Bandra, after noticing that its functioning was seriously hampered due to bitter legal battle between two factions of the Mehta family and serious allegations leveled by both sides regarding misappropriation of trust funds.

the Lilavati Kiritlal Mehta Medical Trust (LKMMT) runs the Lilavati Hospital in Bandra

A special division bench of chief justice Shree Chandrashekhar and justice Ravindra Ghuge, which was constituted to hear a bunch of 25 matters involving the LKMMT and its trustees after several benches recused themselves from hearing the matters on various grounds, ordered the parties to file their respective responses within four weeks.

The directions came after the counsel for the Income Tax department, which has five appeals pending among the bunch of 25 matters, pointed out that the department had found “large scale irregularities” in the course of the searches conducted at the trust premises and, as a consequence thereof, the registration of the trust was cancelled.

On a scrutiny of matters, the judges noticed that in other matters also, present and former trustees of the LKMMT had leveled serious allegations regarding large scale misappropriation of trust funds against each other. Besides, there were criminal proceedings against the present and former trustees, the judges said.

“In view of the fact that the parties are engaged in bitter litigations in at least 31 matters and there are serious allegations of misappropriation of funds, we have formed an opinion that the functioning of the trust seems to have been seriously hampered,” the bench said. “Therefore, we are proposing to appoint a committee of administrators.”

The bench has posted all the matters for further hearing on June 12, when it is likely to pass an order appointing a panel of administrators on the trust.

Lilavati Hospital, which is administered by the trust, was set up by Kishor Mehta in the name of his mother, Lilavati Kiritlal Mehta, in 1978. His wife Charuben and sons Rajiv and Prashant Mehta are permanent trustees on the trust.

Last month, Prashant Mehta filed a plea before a metropolitan magistrate court in Dadar, seeking to prosecute former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, who served as an executive director at the hospital, for criminal defamation, alleged illegal retention of confidential records, fabrication of records and other offences.

Mehta claimed that Singh was supposed to return all the trust records and confidential documents with him immediately after his termination from the position. He has filed a separate plea seeking a warrant to search and recover the trust documents and records from the retired police officer.

Earlier this year, Singh filed a plea before the Charity Commissioner, seeking removal of eight trustees from the trust, including Charuben, Prashant and Rajiv Mehta, claiming irregularities.