Mumbai: Charges claiming a Rs. 1250 crore accounting hole in the books of Mumbai’s famed Lilavati Hospital are ‘baseless and malicious’ as per a statement made on behalf of Chetan Mehta who is fighting a court battle claiming his legitimacy as a trustee of the hospital.
“These are categorically denied. It is their endeavour to malign my client and browbeat him into giving up proceedings against these alleged trustees and their illegal appointment, which are as on date, pending adjudication,” as per the statement from advocate Simran Singh of Sakura advisory made on behalf of Chetan Mehta.
On Tuesday Prashant Kishore Mehta accused 17 people including seven former trustees and equipment suppliers and vendors of financial irregularities of Rs. 1250 crore in the hospital during a press conference. A First Information Report (FIR) regarding these has been registered with the Mumbai police.
Chetan Mehta is also one of the accused trustees.
“The concerned authorities (charity commissioner) vide order of September 2024 upheld my clients position as a permanent trustee which they have challenged since. This media tirade has come in the wake of the supreme court’s order directing the charity commissioner to dispose-off pending proceedings timely and therefore they wish to malign my clients image by these false and frivolous allegations,” said the statement from Chetan Mehta’s lawyer.
The statement claimed that the turnover of the hospital increased from Rs. 200 crore to Rs. 500 crore while Chetan Mehta was a trustee. It further claimed that total charity to the tune of Rs. 250 crore which includes setting up camps, free check ups for women and girls, and thousands of free surgeries for the needy were undertaken during his tenure. It also claimed that deposits had increased from Rs. 10 crore to Rs. 500 crore. Further, it claimed world class medical equipment of Rs. 250 crore was purchased.
