ICICI loan fraud: Chanda Kochhar, her husband to walk free, Bombay HC says arrest is illegal
Mumbai/IBNS: In a major reprieve for arrested former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar, the Bombay High Court Monday granted bail to the duo holding that their arrest by the CBI in the Videocon loan fraud case was not in accordance with law, media reports said.
In response to a petition challenging their arrest, the court has ordered their release and observed: "Arrest not in accordance with the law."
However, the court asked the couple to surrender their passports to the CBI.
They were arrested by the federal investigating agency on Dec 23 for alleged wrongdoing in an over Rs 3,000-crore loan by the bank to the Videocon Group when Chanda Kochhar was heading ICICI.
A special CBI court in Mumbai had sent the former ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar, and Videocon's Venugopal Dhoot to judicial custody till January 10 in the case.
The case relates to alleged cheating and irregularities in loans sanctioned by the ICICI Bank to companies in the Videocon Group.
The Central probe agency arrested Kochhars on Dec 23, while Dhoot was arrested on the following Monday.
The CBI did not seek further custody later, and all three accused were sent to judicial custody till Jan 10.
Chanda Kochhar, 59, had quit as CEO and managing director of ICICI Bank in October 2018 over allegations that she favoured Videocon Group, a consumer electronics and oil and gas exploration company.
The CBI alleged that she violated the bank's code of conduct and internal policies.
She has been accused of criminal conspiracy and cheating by the probe agency for alleged irregularities in a loan of Rs. 3,250 crores in 2012 to the Videocon Group, which became a non-performing asset for the ICICI Bank.
The loan was granted in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, RBI guidelines, and credit policy of the bank, CBI has alleged.
A whistleblower alleged that Kochhar's husband Deepak Kochhar and her family members benefited from the dealings.
The ED in 2021 had filed a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Chanda Kochhar, her husband and Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon Group to investigate alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in sanctioning Rs 1,875 crore in loans by ICICI Bank.
The probe agency had also attached assets worth Rs 78 crore in connection with a money laundering case.
Reports said Dhoot had provided Rs 64 crore to a firm called NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd that he had set up with Deepak and two relatives six months after the Videocon group got Rs 3,250 crore as a loan from ICICI Bank in 2012. Rs 2,810 crore of the loan remains unpaid.
IBNS
Senior Staff Reporter at Northeast Herald, covering news from Tripura and Northeast India.
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