E-Paper
ED assures SC of no coercive action against Chanda Kochhar
A bench headed by Justice S K Kaul was informed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that ED would not take any coercive step in pursuance of the enforcement case information report (ECIR) registered in the ICICI Bank-Videocon Group loan case.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday assured the Supreme Court that it would not take any coercive action against former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar in a money laundering case.
A bench headed by Justice S K Kaul was informed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the agency would not take any coercive step in pursuance of the enforcement case information report (ECIR) registered in the ICICI Bank-Videocon Group loan case. ECIR is equivalent to a police FIR. “Although there is a sword hanging on your head, there is no hurry as such,” said the bench, also having Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy.
In the hearing, the former ICICI Bank CEO was represented by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi and lawyer Vijay Aggarwal. The top court was hearing three separate pleas filed by Kochhar. One plea sought quashing of the money laundering case against Kochhar on various grounds including that the probe was “violative of the procedures established by law”.
“The petitioner is invoking the writ jurisdiction of this court while impugning the investigation proceedings in the ECIR...which have been commenced and continued against her under the PMLA without following the procedure established by law. Whereas Deepak Kochhar, the husband of the petitioner, has already been arrested in these investigations, the petitioner has also been summoned and apprehends the arrest,” the plea said.
The bench adjourned the hearing on two separate petitions filed by Chanda Kochhar against the arrest of her husband Depak Kochhar in the money laundering case and challenging her termination from the services as the CEO of ICICI Bank. Rohatgi said Deepak Kochhar’s regular bail plea is coming up for hearing before a trial court on Monday. He urged the bench to make an observation to ensure that hearing on the bail plea of Deepak Kochhar before the special judge does not get affected on account of the pendency of plea in the top court.
