New Delhi: The Bombay High Court on Monday ordered the release of former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak, saying their arrest was “not in accordance with law”.
Kochhar and later Videocon Group chief Venugopal Dhoot were arrested in December for their alleged involvement in providing a loan of Rs 3,000 crore to the group.
Kochhar argued before the court that her arrest was illegal as sanction under Section 17A was mandated under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Section 17A initiates an investigation which was not done by the arresting agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), according to a report good,
The court then ordered his release from judicial custody on a cash surety of Rs one lakh.
The CBI has named Kochhar, Venugopal Dhoot along with Deepak Kochhar, Supreme Energy (SEPL), Videocon International Electronics Limited (VIEL) and NuPower Renewables (NRL) companies managed by Videocon Industries Limited as accused in the FIR for “criminal”. Conspiracy and the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2019”.
The CBI has alleged that ICICI Bank under Chanda Kochhar had sanctioned credit facilities worth Rs 3,250 crore to Dhoot-promoted Videocon group companies in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, RBI guidelines and the bank’s credit policy.
According to the CBI, in 2009 a sanctioning committee headed by Chanda Kochhar sanctioned a term loan of Rs 300 crore to VIEL in violation of the bank’s rules and policies by abusing his official position as a public servant.
A day after the loan was repaid, Dhoot transferred Rs 64 crore from VIEL to Deepak Kochhar’s NRL through SEPL.
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