This ruling marks a strong signal from the DIFC courts about personal accountability in large corporate lending disputes.
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This ruling marks a strong signal from the DIFC courts about personal accountability in large corporate lending disputes.
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Court has delivered a major judgment against BR Shetty, founder of the collapsed NMC Healthcare Group, ordering him to pay $45.99 million (Dh168.8 million) plus interest to the State Bank of India (SBI).
The court branded Shetty’s testimony an “incredible parade of lies,” finding his version of events incoherent and misleading.
Justice Andrew Moran of the DIFC Court ruled that BR Shetty personally guaranteed a $50 million loan to NMC Healthcare in December 2018. The court rejected his denial as “fabricated and dishonest,” pointing to substantial documentary and witness evidence confirming the signature’s authenticity.
The verdict also imposed 9 percent annual interest on the total until repayment, underlining the DIFC Court’s strict stance on financial accountability.
Court documents revealed that Shetty had acknowledged the loan in earlier email correspondence, contradicting his courtroom claims. Testimony from SBI’s former CEO Anantha Shenoy confirmed he witnessed Shetty signing the guarantee at NMC’s Abu Dhabi headquarters.
Photographs and internal meeting notes from early 2019 further supported SBI’s case. Shetty’s attempt to argue that NMC employees once held “signature copying contests” was dismissed by the court as implausible.
A forensic handwriting analysis identified eleven matching points between Shetty’s known samples and the disputed signature. The DIFC Court deemed the findings decisive and accepted the report submitted by SBI’s expert.
Once one of the UAE’s largest private healthcare providers, NMC Healthcare collapsed in 2020 after the discovery of over $4 billion in hidden debt. The scandal erupted following a report by the research firm Muddy Waters Capital, which first raised concerns over NMC’s accounting practices.
Shetty resigned as chairman in February 2020. The State Bank of India subsequently demanded repayment in April and May 2020, but Shetty denied receiving the notices. The legal process, delayed by pandemic disruptions, reached its conclusion in October 2025.
Legal experts say the ruling reinforces the DIFC Court’s role in maintaining transparency within Dubai’s corporate ecosystem. It highlights how international lenders can rely on the emirate’s judicial system to enforce cross-border financial agreements.
The case also sends a strong message to UAE-based business leaders about personal liability in corporate financing — emphasizing that documentary guarantees are enforceable even when signatories later attempt to deny them.
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