Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has approved a three-month extension for Keki Mistry as interim Part-time Chairman of HDFC Bank, the lender disclosed on Wednesday. Mistry, whose term was set to conclude on June 18, will now continue in the role until September 18, 2026, or until a regular Part-time Chairman is appointed, whichever comes earlier.The extension follows a formal application made by the bank to the RBI, and comes on the same day that HDFC Bank's board convened to review the findings of a legal inquiry commissioned in the wake of former chairman Atanu Chakraborty's resignation in March.The board meeting had been closely watched. Ahead of it, members of the bank's audit committee — chaired by M.D. Ranganath, with Lily Vadera and Dr. Harsh Kumar Bhanwala as members — met on Tuesday to deliberate on the findings of the legal review. The Economic Times had first reported on June 17 that the board was expected to consider both the review findings and the extension for Mistry, subject to RBI clearance.The legal review itself was triggered by Chakraborty's dramatic exit on March 18, in which the former IAS officer and ex-Secretary at the Department of Economic Affairs cited alleged deviations "incongruent" with his ethics and value systems. The resignation sent shockwaves through India's banking establishment and caused an immediate slide in HDFC Bank's stock. In response, the bank engaged three law firms — domestic firms Wadia Ghandy and Trilegal, and US-based Wilson Sonsini — to examine the circumstances surrounding his departure. The review covered board meeting recordings, minutes and agendas from the past two years, as well as whistleblower letters received and escalated to the board during the period.The preliminary findings, as reported by ET on June 16, suggest no governance irregularities or ethical breaches of the nature implied in the resignation letter. The law firms are said to have found no merit in the concerns flagged by Chakraborty.The bank's top management and board had maintained since May that a new permanent chairman should be appointed only after the findings of the legal review had been placed before them. Mistry himself has indicated he is unlikely to continue beyond a transitional period. With the RBI now granting the extension, the board is expected to use the additional three months to conduct a structured search for a permanent chairman.