Sashidhar Jagdishan will not be re-appointed as MD&CEO of HDFC Bank, Read his 6 Big Controversies!!
HDFC Bank’s managing director and chief executive officer Sashidhar Jagdishan on Saturday said he does not want to be reappointed again as MD&CEO of HDFC Bank. He opted out of being considered for reappointment after his current term ends on October 26.
About Sashidhar Jagdishan
Jagdishan was born in and raised in Mumbai, India. He completed his secondary education at Don Bosco High School and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Science with a specialization in Physics from the University of Mumbai. He also qualified as a chartered accountant. He went on to obtained a Master’s degree in Economics of Money, Banking, and Finance from the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom.
He joined HDFC Bank in 1996 as a manager in the finance department. Over the years, he took on increasing responsibilities, including being appointed Business Head – Finance and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in 2008. In 2019, he assumed the role of ‘Change Agent of the Bank,’ overseeing various critical functions within HDFC Bank. He was appointed as the CEO of HDFC Bank in October 2020, succeeding Aditya Puri. In 2023, he was recognized as the highest-paid bank chief executive in India.
Controversies related to Sashidhar Jagdishan
Jagdishan, 61, will retire from the bank on October 26 after spending nearly three decades at the lender. After taking over as the bank CEO in October 2020, Jagdishan is serving his second three-year term as the bank’s head. Jagdishan took over as the CEO of the bank from Aditya Puri, who had led the bank since its founding in 1995.
The issue of Jagdishan’s reappointment has been a subject of intense speculation, especially after the surprising resignation of non-executive chairman Atanu Chakraborty in March this year, citing concerns on ethics and governance practices at the bank.
1. Lilavati Hospital Trust bribery/FIR controversy
This was the most direct personal legal controversy involving Jagdishan. In 2025, the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, which runs Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, filed a complaint that resulted in an FIR naming Jagdishan. The Trust alleged that he received ₹2.05 crore as a bribe and had become involved in the affairs of the Trust. The allegations were connected to a long-running dispute involving the Mehta family and HDFC Bank’s loan-recovery proceedings.
2. Atanu Chakraborty’s sudden resignation and alleged governance dispute
This is arguably the biggest corporate-governance controversy surrounding Jagdishan. HDFC Bank chairman Atanu Chakraborty abruptly resigned in March 2026, citing differences concerning certain practices and saying they were not in line with his personal values and ethics.
Reports subsequently linked the disagreement to Jagdishan and the bank’s senior management, particularly over strategy, accountability, human-resources decisions and the role of the chairman. One particularly important issue was reportedly Jagdishan’s reappointment as CEO. Reports said Chakraborty opposed his continuation while the majority of the board supported Jagdishan. There were also disagreements involving HDB Financial Services and its proposed transaction with Mitsubishi UFJ.
3. Credit Suisse AT1 bond mis-selling controversy
Another major controversy concerns HDFC Bank’s overseas operations in Dubai and Bahrain. HDFC Bank employees were accused of mis-selling Credit Suisse Additional Tier-1 (AT1) bonds to NRI customers. These were high-risk securities that ultimately became worthless when Credit Suisse was taken over by UBS in 2023.
The controversy became much bigger in 2026 because:
- HDFC Bank’s Dubai International Financial Centre branch had faced regulatory restrictions.
- The bank conducted an internal review.
- Three senior executives were subsequently asked to leave.
- Additional employees were reportedly penalised.
- The issue became one of the subjects of discussion surrounding Atanu Chakraborty’s resignation.
Jagdishan reportedly characterised the episode as involving technical/procedural lapses rather than deliberate wrongdoing. Former chairman Atanu Chakraborty subsequently suggested that the treatment of the AT1 bond issue and accountability for customer losses was one of the issues that contributed to his disagreement with management.
4. MSRDC deposit controversy — ₹45 crore and “business overreach”
This is the most important current controversy directly involving Jagdishan’s management decisions. HDFC Bank was accused of giving preferential treatment to the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to attract its deposits. It was alleged that the bank paid extra interest to MSDRC to garner deposits.
Reports alleged that the bank effectively provided additional financial benefits to MSRDC through arrangements classified as marketing expenses/differential interest. The amount involved was reported at around ₹45 crore. The bank conducted inquiry and imposed a ₹1 lakh monetary penalty on Jagdishan.
5. U.S. securities class-action lawsuit — August 2026
This is the latest controversy, and it is particularly relevant because it was filed only weeks before Jagdishan announced that he would not seek another term. On 13 August 2026, investor Jwalant Natvarlal Soneji filed a securities lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against HDFC Bank, Sashidhar Jagdishan and CFO Srinivasan Vaidyanathan.
The lawsuit alleges that HDFC Bank made materially misleading statements and failed to disclose information concerning the MSRDC deposit controversy.
6. Early RBI Regulatory Sanctions (2020–2021)
Immediately after Jagdishan took charge in late 2020, the RBI issued an embargo barring HDFC Bank from launching new digital activities under its “Digital 2.0” framework and sourcing new credit card customers.
The regulatory freeze was triggered by recurring, severe outages in HDFC Bank’s digital banking infrastructure. The restrictions continued for over an year and were a big blow to the HDFC Bank.
