HC stays ED’s move to seize Deepak Kochhar’s assets

A division bench of chief justice Shree Chandrashekhar and justice Gautam Ankhad on May 8 observed that Kochhar had “made out a case for interim protection” and restrained the ED from taking possession of the attached assets

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has granted interim relief to businessman Deepak Kochhar, husband of former ICICI Bank chief executive Chanda Kochhar, and stayed a tribunal’s order upholding the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) attachment of his properties worth ₹78 crore.

New Delhi, India - May 14, 2019: Former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar arrive to appear before Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a bank loan fraud and money laundering case probe, in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday, May 14, 2019. (Photo by Biplov Bhuyan/ Hindustan Times) (Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)

A division bench of chief justice Shree Chandrashekhar and justice Gautam Ankhad on May 8 observed that Kochhar had “made out a case for interim protection” and restrained the ED from taking possession of the attached assets till the next hearing date on June 19.

The case stems from allegations that ICICI Bank sanctioned six high-value loans totalling ₹1,875 crore to Videocon Group companies between June 2009 and October 2012, when Chanda Kochhar was the bank’s managing director and chief executive. According to the ED, as a quid pro quo, Videocon Group chairman Venugopal Dhoot invested ₹64 crore into NuPower Renewables, a company managed by Deepak Kochhar, in August 2009.

In January 2020, the ED provisionally attached the Kochhars’ assets worth ₹78 crore, terming them proceeds of crime. The attached properties included a flat at CCI Chambers in south Mumbai and cash worth ₹10.5 lakh.

However, in November 2020, an adjudicating authority under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) dismissed the attachment. Under PMLA rules, every attachment must be confirmed by an adjudicating authority within 180 days.

Chanda Kochhar had claimed that she was unaware of her husband’s business dealings. However, the Appellate Tribunal for Forfeited Property (ATFP) in Delhi rejected the contention, observing that the ₹64 crore transferred by the Videocon Group to NuPower Renewables shortly after ICICI Bank sanctioned a ₹300 crore loan to Videocon in August 2009 constituted a “quid pro quo”. The tribunal held that a prima facie case of money laundering was made out against the Kochhars.

The tribunal further observed that immediately after the disbursal of the ₹300 crore loan to Videocon, ₹64 crore was routed to NuPower Renewables. Dhoot held a 95% stake in Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd (SEPL), which controlled NuPower Renewables. Dhoot later resigned from SEPL in January 2009 and transferred control of the company to Deepak Kochhar.

Deepak Kochhar was arrested by the ED in September 2020 and later released on bail. In December 2022, both Chanda and Deepak Kochhar were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), only to be granted interim bail by the Bombay High Court in January 2023. The high court, in a landmark judgment in February 2024, deemed their arrest unlawful and an abuse of power.