HC may decide on Monday if Kochhars can secure bail to attend son’s wedding

The Bombay high court is expected to pronounce its interim order on the Kochhar couple’s plea, seeking temporary bail to attend their son’s wedding, on Monday

The Bombay high court is expected to pronounce its interim order on the Kochhar couple’s plea, seeking temporary bail to attend their son’s wedding, on Monday. A division bench of justice Revati Mohite Dere and justice P K Chavan on Friday concluded the hearing in the matter.

Mumbai, Dec 26 (ANI): Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials produce former ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar before the CBI court in connection with an alleged ICICI Bank-Videocon loan fraud case, in Mumbai on Monday. (ANI Photo) (ANI)

Chanda Kochhar, former MD and CEO of ICICI Bank, and her husband Deepak Kochhar were arrested by the CBI in a loan fraud case involving Videocon Group promoter Venugopal Dhoot.

Advocate Kushal Mor, representing the Kochhars, argued that they were arrested in violation of section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure as the investigating officer did not issue a notice of appearance. The section mandates that a person who complies with the notice must not be arrested unless the investigating officer cites special reasons for arresting him or her.

They further contended that though they had cooperated with the CBI and she had even submitted 810-page documents to the agency, they were arrested at a time when their only son was scheduled to get married.

The couple urged the court to release them on temporary bail, claiming that the first function would be held on January 7. The marriage is scheduled to be solemnised on January 15.

The CBI, however, denied the allegation of violation of statutory mandate in arresting the Kochhars. The agency admitted that the duo appeared before it whenever called but said that physical appearances and evasive replies to queries asked could not be construed as cooperation.

The agency also refuted Chanda Kochhar’s allegation that no woman personnel were present when she was placed under arrest. In white collar crimes, accused persons are not required to be physically touched before taking them into custody, it said.

She was orally informed that she was arrested after she appeared before the investigating officer and a woman constable conducted her personal search, the CBI added.

After hearing both sides, the bench posted the plea for orders on Monday.

According to the CBI, after Chanda Kochhar took over as the MD and CEO, ICICI Bank sanctioned rupee term loans (RTL) of ₹1,875 crore to six companies of Videocon Group between June 2009 and October 2011.

One of the loans of ₹300 crore was given to M/s Videocon International Electronics Limited when she was heading the bank’s sanctioning committee, the agency said. The loan was disbursed on September 7, 2009, and the very next day, Videocon Group through its firm, Supreme Energy Private Limited, transferred ₹64 crore to NuPower Renewables Limited, which was managed by Deepak Kochhar.

The CBI further claimed that on April 26, 2012, the existing outstanding of the six RTL accounts were adjusted in another RTL of ₹1,730 crore sanctioned to M/S Videocon Industries Limited for “refinance of domestic debt”. The account of M/s VIL was declared NPA with effect from June 30, 2017, and the present outstanding in the a/c was ₹1,033 crore.