Informist, Friday, Sep 6, 2024

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court today issued notices to former ICICI Bank chief executing officer and managing director Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar on the Central Bureau of Investigation's plea against the Bombay High Court's February order terming their arrest "illegal". The duo were arrested by the investigating agency in December 2022 in connection with allegations of irregularities in loans provided by ICICI Bank to the Videocon group.

In February, the high court had said the arrest of Chanda and Deepak Kochhar by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a case related to loan irregularities amounted to abuse of power by the investigating agency. "Such routine arrest without application of mind and due regard to the law amounts to an abuse of power and does not satisfy the requirement of Section 41A(3) Cr.P.C (Code of criminal procedure)," a bench of Justice N.R. Borkar and Justice Anuja Prabhudessai had said, confirming the interim bail granted to the couple.

The arrest was not based on any additional material discovered in the course of the investigations, but on the same material that was within the knowledge of the investigating officer at the time of issuance of notice, the high court had said. The investigating agency has not been able to demonstrate the existence of circumstances or supportive material based on which the decision to arrest was taken, it had said, terming the Kochhars' arrest as "illegal" for breach of mandatory provisions under the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The CBI had registered a preliminary case in 2017, alleging that officials of ICICI Bank had sanctioned loans to the Videocon group promoted by Venugopal Dhoot during 2009-2012 in violation of the Banking Regulation Act. Chanda Kochhar was one of the members of the committee that sanctioned the loan to the Videocon group.

The CBI had also alleged quid pro quo, as Dhoot invested 640 mln rupees in companies managed by Deepak Kochhar through a circuitous route. It also alleged that an apartment owned by the Videocon Group was sold to the family trust of Deepak Kochhar at a sharply lower price. The CBI claimed that preliminary investigations revealed Chanda Kochhar had abused her official position in sanctioning loans to the Videocon group and got illegal gratification through her husband Deepak Kochhar. End

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Avishek Dutta

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