SC dismisses pleas for appointment of administrator for Lilavati trust

A bench of justices MM Sundresh and Prasanna B Varale allowed one of the petitioners, former trustee Rajesh Mehta, to withdraw his plea and approach the joint charity commissioner for interim relief

MUMBAI: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed two petitions seeking the appointment of an administrator to manage the affairs of the trust that runs the premier Lilavati Hospital in Bandra, declining to intervene in a bitter dispute between rival factions of the Mehta family over its control.

The case involves a bitter dispute between rival factions of the Mehta family over the control of the trust that manages Lilavati Hospital. (HT Photo)

A bench of justices MM Sundresh and Prasanna B Varale allowed one of the petitioners, former trustee Rajesh Mehta, to withdraw his plea and approach the joint charity commissioner for interim relief, but declined to examine the allegations against the current trustees.

The Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust (LKMMT) is currently headed by chairperson Charu Mehta, along with her sons Prashant and Rajiv Mehta, who are permanent trustees. The two petitioners are also members of the Mehta family: Rajesh Mehta is Charu’s third son and the brother of Prashant and Rajiv, while Niket Mehta is their cousin and a former managing trustee.

The petitions challenged the Bombay High Court’s order passed on September 24, dismissing Niket Mehta’s plea before the joint charity commissioner, seeking the removal of the existing trustees and the appointment of an administrator under Section 41D of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act.

“It appears to us that it is with a view to sabotage the functioning of the concerned adjudicating authority [that] the petitioner has sought such a relief,” a division bench of justices A S Gadkari and Kamal Khata had observed in its order.

In Rajesh Mehta’s case, the high court had directed the joint charity commissioner to decide his petition seeking the removal of the current trustees within four months.

Rajesh moved the Supreme Court on September 26, claiming that the high court had erroneously dismissed his petition. He claimed that he had not been given an opportunity to argue his case for appointing a committee of administrators to manage the trust.

The dispute has been the subject of prolonged litigation between rival factions of the Mehta family, with allegations of financial irregularities and misappropriation of trust funds.

In May, the high court had proposed appointing a committee of administrators after observing that the trust’s functioning appeared to have been seriously affected by the family feud and allegations of financial misconduct.

The Supreme Court had later clarified that the high court’s observations in its May 7 order were “only prima facie” in nature and that “all the issues are left open” for further adjudication.