The Bombay High Court, on Monday, granted interim relief to former ICICI Bank MD & CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar in the ICICI Bank-Videocon cases, observing that their arrest was not in accordance with law. The HC ordered their release against a cash bail of Rs 1 lakh each.
The Kochhars, alongwith Videocon group founder Venugopal Dhoot, were arrested by CBI late last month for their alleged roles in the case. The trio has since been in judicial custody.
The defence counsel termed the arrest “illegal” on the ground that no sanction was obtained prior to the CBI detention under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA). Senior advocate Amit Desai and lawyer Kushal Mor submitted that she was arrested after a “perfunctory interrogation.” They also argued that contrary to law, the ICICI Bank ex-chief was arrested by a male officer.
The CBI in its FIR, registered in 2019 under IPC section related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the PCA, alleged that thej private sector bank sanctioned credit facilities to the tune of Rs 3,250 crores to the defaulters, in violation of norms.
The defaulters have been named thus: Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar, Venugopal Dhoot along with Nupower Renewables (NRL) managed by Deepak Kochhar, Supreme Energy and Videocon Industries Ltd.
The chargesheet also mentions that as part of the financial quid pro quid, Dhoot invested Rs 64 crores in NRL through Supreme Energy (SEPL) and then transferred SEPL to Pinnacle Energy Trust managed by Deepak Kochhar through a “circuitous route” between 2010 and 2012
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