Mumbai, Aug. 24 -- The 12-storey super-speciality hospital with a butterfly layout that's spread over 2,77,000 square feet of prime real estate in Bandra is a familiar name across the country thanks to a slew of celebrity patients over the years. From the Thackeray family to Amitabh Bachchan and Saif Ali Khan, Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre has been the go-to place for Mumbai's celebrities seeking medical attention. More recently, however, the hospital has been in the headlines for an internecine battle within the Trust that runs it. A cast of characters ranging from feuding diamantaires, a retired top cop to the head of one of India's largest banks, has turned a family fight into gripping drama. At stake, for the warring factions of the founding family, is control over the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust (LKMMT) that runs the hospital. It is valued at Rs. 5,000 crores, all assets included. The Trust's founder, Kirtilal Mehta was among the pioneering businessmen who led India's diamond exports to Antwerp, Belgium, in the 1950s. The hospital and the Trust are named after his wife Lilavati. And their grandchildren are now battling in multiple courtrooms across Mumbai--with nearly 50 cases and appeals against one another underway. But it was the introduction of former Mumbai Commissioner of Police Param Bir Singh and HDFC Bank Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Sashidhar Jagdishan into the meld that has caused further stir. Singh, who joined LKMMT last year, told the media this March that the former trustees of the hospital had resorted to "black magic" to cause physical harm to the present lot of trustees. While Singh is now the Trust's Executive Director, the HDFC Bank MD and CEO has been accused of accepting a bribe of Rs. 2.05 crore to enable the former trustees to misappropriate trust funds. Jagdishan has contested these charges in court and has sought the quashing of the FIR against him. But how did things come to such a bitter pass for one of Mumbai's most influential diamond merchant families? LKMMT founder Kirtilal Mehta was born in Palanpur, Gujarat in 1907, into a family that traded precious gems in Rangoon, Burma, now Myanmar. He came to Bombay in the 1940s to set up his independent company, 'Beautiful Diamonds.' In 1954, Mehta moved to Antwerp where he set up the Gembel Group and expanded his business to Hong Kong, Tel Aviv and New York. A June, 2024, article by Gateway House, a Mumbai-based think tank, wrote in reference to Mehta's illustrious journey: "Palanpuri Jain diamantaires like Kirtilal Manilal Mehta (known as Bapaji in the community) travelled to Antwerp and Tel Aviv in British-administered Palestine in 1945. The triangle of his trade travels was Antwerp, Amsterdam and Tel Aviv. Life in the aftermath of the war was hard due to shortage of food, living in a foreign culture, and the barrier of language. Despite these hardships, Gembel (Gems of Belgium) was founded." In 1991, Kirtilal Mehta was awarded "Office of the Order," an honour bestowed by the King of Belgium. Mehta died in 1993, but well before his death he decided to set up a hospital in Mumbai in the memory of his late wife Lilavati. "On this soil I pledge and cherish a fond dream for my Lilavati," he wrote, expressing his desire to build the hospital. The couple had four sons, Vijay, Prabodh, Kishor and Rashmi, and three daughters-- Anila, Rekha and Lisa. In the trust deed of 1978, Kirtilal named his son Kishor, daughter-in-law Charu, and his daughter Rekha Sheth, all of whom were then Bombay residents, as the permanent trustees of the LKMMT. The tussle over trusteeship started after Kishor Mehta fell sick in 2001-02 and made his Antwerp-based brother Vijay Mehta a term trustee for five years, says Kishor Mehta's son Prashant who is leading the battle for his side of the family. This version is contested by the other side of the family in Antwerp and UAE, and is led by Kishor Mehta's nephew, Chetan. Sources close to him, however, told HT that Vijay Mehta was first made trustee in 1995, and not in 2001. They claim that Kishor Mehta left India for five years to avoid repaying bank debts incurred after business losses. It was this that led to the cessation of Kishor's trusteeship at LKMMT in 2004, they say, marking the start of the querulent and litigious years ahead. In the legal disputes the family's third generation is embroiled in, Kishor Mehta's sons Rajiv, Rajesh and Prashant, are arrayed on one side while Chetan, son of the late Prabodh Mehta, Niket, son of Vijay Mehta, and Kirtilal's sole surviving son, Rashmi and their families are on the other. It is the contention of Kishor Mehta's family that in the brief period when he appointed his brother Vijay as term trustee, the latter "hijacked" the trust and "forged documents" to appoint himself as a permanent trustee and, in addition, appointed his son Niket, nephew Chetan and brothers Prabodh and Rashmi Mehta on the trust. Chetan Mehta who runs the Pace Diamonds Group with offices in Belgium, Italy, UAE and India contends that though Kishor was a permanent trustee, Kirtilal's other sons who lived in Antwerp also made significant contributions to building Lilavati Hospital, ensuring no funds were taken from outside of the family. A source close to him claims that the original trust deed specified that all branches of the family should be represented in LKMMT. But between 2011 and 2022 the competing family members contested as many as 31 change reports before the Charity Commissioner in Mumbai. (Change reports are documents filed before the Charity Commissioner to notify changes in the Trust's administration. They are filed under the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950). On December 14, 2023, following directions of the Supreme Court, the assistant charity commissioner decided them. He noted that Kishor, Charu and Rekha Sheth were permanent trustees for life. Chetan's side contended that Clause 20 of the Trust Deed stated that after founder Kirtilal Mehta's death, his son Vijay, would act in the same capacity. The clause also gave Vijay the power to appoint up to five term trustees, which is what he had done after taking over. However, with Vijay Mehta's death in 2010, as Charu Mehta had contended, the clause that gave him the powers of the settlor became obsolete. With this ruling, Charu Mehta and her family took back control of the LKMMT after 21 years. In his order, the assistant charity commissioner Bharat S Gaikwad, however, made a striking observation asking the feuding sides of the family to bear their own expenses: "Both groups chose not to lead their evidence wilfully because (then) litigation of the trust will go on for indefinite time and they will remain in administration and management of the trust. Considering the above facts and circumstances of the cases, it appears that parties are litigating for their own personal interest. They are not litigating for the interest of the trust." Chetan's lawyers who have since appealed the order of the assistant charity commissioner, argue that Kishor and Charu wanted full control of the trust to settle their financial liabilities after cases initiated by the Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation and the Debt Recovery Tribunal. A charge that Prashant Mehta refutes as "bogus." Curiously, the family battle that should have settled with the Charity Commission's ruling, has been re-ignited with Prashant Mehta's fresh allegations of major financial irregularities in the Trust while it was under the former trustees, and his FIR against HDFC's Sashidhar Jagdishan. Another key player joined LKMMT in 2024: Param Bir Singh, himself a survivor of controversies-be it the case involving the explosives kept outside Antilia when he was Mumbai police commissioner, or his public letter alleging Maharashtra's then home minister Anil Deshmukh ran an extortion ring. In June, Singh told the media that Jagdishan had accepted bribes of Rs 2.05 crore and also availed free treatment at the hospital, the cost of which ran into lakhs of rupees. In March, he had said LKMMT carried out a forensic account audit after which Prashant Mehta and Singh claimed that the former trustees had embezzled Rs.1250 crore from the Trust. Singh also told the media that the former trustees had performed black magic rituals in Prashant Mehta's office with the intention to harm him. "While the ex-trustees were in command and control of the hospital, they indulged in black magic and inhuman and evil practices. Eight urns containing human remains and other artefacts used for black magic were put inside the flooring of the room in which Mrs Charu and Mr Prashant Mehta sit. The intent was obviously to damage their health," Singh told the media, adding that a complaint with a magistrate had been filed in the matter. On May 31, another FIR for financial misappropriation against the seven former trustees and others including Sashidhar Jagdishan was filed. Chetan Mehta has since termed these allegations "baseless and malicious." Through his lawyer, he said, that it was during his tenure that the hospital's turnover climbed from Rs.200 crore to Rs.500 crore, and its bank deposits increased from Rs.10 crore to Rs.500 crore. India's highest-paid banker Sashidhar Jagdishan's name first cropped up in June when Prashant Mehta and Singh claimed to have unearthed a hand-written cash register with entries of payments made to different persons by Chetan Mehta and others. Singh claimed that between March 2022 and June 2023, Jagdishan accepted Rs.2.05 crore in bribes to aid the erstwhile trustees to illegally retain control of the trust. Jagdishan, in turn, has contended before the Bombay High Court that the complaint against him was filed by the LKMMT after HDFC bank revived recovery efforts in 2020 against the family firm Splendour Gems Ltd. (earlier Beautiful Diamonds Ltd), which reportedly owed the bank Rs.65.22 crore. He has sought the quashing of this FIR against him. Jagdishan's petition stated that Splendour Gems was run by Kishor Mehta and his sons Rajesh and Rajiv Mehta, Prashant Mehta's elder brothers, were the guarantors against his borrowings. Making the battle against Jagdishan personal, Prashant Mehta claimed that while his father Kishor was in a loan dispute with HDFC Bank, he endured "mental and emotional distress" at the hands of the bank which led to his death in 2024. He has called his father's death "murder" and added that criminal proceedings in this regard are pending before the Mumbai Sessions Court. In their case against Jagdishan, the present trustees have relied on a purported letter, dated February 2, 2022, appointing him as a "financial advisor". The letter is signed by the original permanent trustee, Kirtilal's daughter Rekha Sheth who died in August 2022. Sources close to Jagdishan, however, have said there is no record to show that Jagdishan had accepted the alleged appointment. "He is being targeted by unscrupulous persons who are abusing the legal process to thwart recovery of the outstanding loan due to the bank from recalcitrant defaulters," read the June 7 statement issued by HDFC bank. "Recovery and enforcement actions have been taken by the bank over two decades and at every stage Prashant Mehta and his other family members have launched numerous, vexatious legal actions," it further said. Chetan Mehta too has denied making the said appointment. "My client Chetan Mehta totally denies appointing HDFC Bank CEO Shashidhar Jagdishan as Financial Advisor to the Lilavati Trust much less (making) any clandestine appointment while he was in office in his capacity as the rightful trustee," says a statement by Chetan Mehta's lawyer Simran Singh. "It is the modus operandi of the alleged trustees of Lilavati Trust to issue bogus, false and misleading statements, to sensationalise matters while they are sub judice," the statement further read. Jagdishan, meanwhile, finds himself in a legal maze. Four high court judges of different benches of the Bombay High Court recused themselves from hearing his petition for quashing of the FIR citing either their prior association with one of the LKMMT trustees or with HDFC Bank. Jagdishan then moved the Supreme Court seeking a hearing but the top court, although sympathetic, sent the matter back to the Bombay High Court. The matter is now with a bench of Justices MS Karnik and NR Borkar. While Jagdishan refused to comment for this story, an HDFC Bank statement of June 7 said, "They (Prashant Mehta and family) have resorted to mala fide personal attacks on the bank's MD and CEO with the sole objective of intimidating and bullying the bank and its MD and CEO from carrying out the mandate of recovering all outstanding loans in every possible manner." While his plea is still sub-judice, the LKMMT has slapped criminal and civil defamation cases against HDFC CEO and MD seeking damages of Rs. 1,000 crore. The defamation suit says Jagdishan's defence that the case against him was filed after the bank began the recovery process against Splendour Gems is "unsupported by documentation." The LKMMT was never a borrower of HDFC Bank. "On the contrary, we have been a lender-placing Rs.48 crore in fixed deposits and bonds," the LKMMT states. In a separate complaint to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) seeking action against Jagdishan, Prashant Mehta wrote: "It is an undisputed fact that neither the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust nor Mr Prashant Mehta has ever borrowed any money or taken a loan from HDFC Bank." That the bank had falsely labelled them as direct defaulters was, "an act of defamation and criminal fabrication, with grave reputational and operational damages." He also said that the alleged liability of Rs 65 crore was a "fabricated and inflated claim". However, earlier this month, the Bombay High Court quashed a notice by the metropolitan magistrate court to Sashidharan in the criminal defamation case, and Justice S M Modak, while setting aside the magistrate court's order, said the magistrate could not have issued notices to the accused before first verifying the details of Mehta's complaint....