In his report, Justice Halbe has cited the alleged misappropriation of funds by the trustees which amounts to crores of rupees. He states that all the details in his report was brought to the notice of the trustees, but they have not replied yet.

“I have a fair ground to presume that the allegations may be true,” Justice Halbe states in the report.

The Supreme Court had recently appointed Justice Halbe as the joint administrator along with Dr Narendra Trivedi to look into the administration of the hospital in the wake of the legal battle between the Mehta families, trustees of the hospital.

On Wednesday, Senior Advocate K T S Tulsi read out the report partially after which a division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice D Y Chandrachud adjourned the hearing till October 23. Meanwhile, the court has also asked Dr Trivedi to submit his comments on Justice Halbe’s report before the next hearing.

“The report has pointed out misappropriation amounting to crores of rupees. Now Dr Trivedi has been asked to give his comments on the report,” said Rajendra Bhagattjee, one of the petitioner’s advocate.

The High Court had in April admitted a petition filed by one of the Lilavati hospital trustees, Charuben Mehta, who alleged siphoning of crores of rupees between 2001-06 by the trustees.

Charuben’s husband Kishore Mehta, who is the younger brother of Vijay Mehta, has been disputing Vijay’s trusteeship alleging that he (Vijay) had forged documents in 1995 and got himself appointed as a permanent trustee of the hospital trust set up by the father in 1978. A similar application filed by Charuben before the Charity Commissioner is still pending.

By the Trust Deed of July 5, 1978, settler Kirtilal Mehta executed the trust deed and settled the initial amount and estate on the trust. The trust then comprised of Kishore Mehta (son), Charuben Mehta (daughter-in-law) and Rekha Sheth (daughter of Kirtilal).

Following the alleged misappropriation, Charuben moved court against Rekha and 11 other trustees including Vijay. Besides Rekha, Vijay and Kishore, rest of the trustees are outsiders.

As for the allegations of misappropriation, the report states that the audited accounts for the year that ended on March 31, 2001, the opponent trustees have spent an amount of Rs 75,62,120 for repair and maintenance without prior notice to the board. Rs 51,21,308 was spent for legal and professional charges without any notice or agenda. Some of the “trustees have spent Rs 1.5 crore on legal expenses during three years when the services of the advocates of large number was not necessary,” the report states.