Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar. file
The CBI has filed a charge sheet against former ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon Group founder Venugopal Dhoot in a ₹3,250-crore loan fraud case, officials said on April 8.
He said the agency has filed the charge sheet under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
According to officials, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has named nine entities, including companies and individuals.
Officials said the CBI has proceeded to file its final report before a special court in Mumbai without the mandatory requirement of sanction to prosecute Ms Chanda Kochhar from ICICI Bank.
He said a letter was sent to the bank for approval but its reply is awaited.
Normally, the special court waits for the sanction before proceeding to take cognizance of the charge sheet and subsequently initiates the trial if warranted.
Officials said the special CBI court is yet to take cognizance of the charge sheet.
He said that in case of denial of sanction to prosecute, the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act would not apply.
The agency had arrested Kochhar and Mr Dhoot in December last year.
Opposing the CBI’s plea for remand, senior advocate Amit Desai, appearing for the Kochhar family, had brought to the notice of the court a letter that ICICI Bank had written to the CBI in July 2021, stating that it had not received any Also there is no wrongful loss in the transaction.
The Bombay High Court had granted bail to the couple on 9 January, noting that the CBI’s move to arrest them was “haphazard, mechanical and reckless and clearly without application of mind”.
The High Court had observed that the grounds for arrest in the present case have been stated only as non-cooperation and not making full and true disclosure.
The court had said, “The reasons given for arresting the petitioners having regard to the facts stated in the arrest memorandum, appear to us to be casual, mechanical and inadvertent, clearly thoughtless.”
The bench noted that Kochhar’s arrest was in violation of Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which mandates serving a notice for her appearance before the police officer concerned.
Kochhar and Mr. Dhoot as well as Nupower Renewables (NRL), managed by Mr. Deepak Kochhar, Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd. and Videocon Industries Ltd. have been named as accused in the CBI FIR.
The agency has alleged that ICICI Bank sanctioned credit facilities of Rs 3,250 crore to Videocon group companies promoted by Mr Dhoot in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, RBI guidelines and the bank’s credit policy.
It also alleged that in retaliation, Dhoot invested Rs 64 crore in Nupower Renewables through Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd (SEPL) and transferred SEPL to Pinnacle Energy Trust managed by Mr Deepak Kochhar. route between 2010 and 2012.