Yet another judge recuses from hearing the HDFC Bank case taking the toll of judges opting out to four. Latest to recuse himself is newly appointed judge Justice Gautam Ankhad of the Bombay High Court. Justice Ankhad, who was sworn in as a High Court judge on July 4, expressed his inability to hear the case when it was mentioned on Tuesday. His recusal makes it unlikely that the plea will be heard on the previously scheduled date of July 14.

The plea was filed by HDFC Bank Managing Director and CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan, who is seeking quashing of a criminal case registered against him. The First Information Report (FIR) against him was filed by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, which owns and manages Mumbai’s prominent Lilavati Hospital.

The matter was first listed before a bench of Justice A.S. Gadkari and Justice Rajesh Patil on June 18, when Justice Patil recused himself. On the same day, it was mentioned before Justice Sarang Kotwal, who also recused himself. On June 25, the case came up before Justices M.S. Sonak and Jitendra Jain, where Justice Jain recused himself after disclosing that he held shares in HDFC Bank. His recusal followed an objection raised by the counsel for Prashant Mehta, the authorised representative of the Trust. Later, on June 30, Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice M.M. Sathaye declined to grant an urgent hearing and scheduled the matter for July 14.

In light of the repeated delays, Jagdishan moved the Supreme Court seeking intervention. However, on July 4, the Supreme court refused to entertain the plea, noting that the matter was already listed before the Bombay High Court. The Supreme Court expressed hope that the High Court would proceed with the matter on July 14th as scheduled.

Case Details: Sashidhar Jagdishan vs. State of Maharashtra WP No. 3205 of 2025