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PMLA adjudicating authority dismisses attachment of assets of Kochhars
The adjudicating authority has also trashed the premise of the case -- that a loan was given by the ICICI Bank to Videocon Group following which an alleged kickback of Rs 64 crore was paid to Deepak Kochhar.
In a major setback to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in its probe against former ICICI Bank managing director Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar, an Adjudicating Authority under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has dismissed the attachment of their properties worth Rs 78 crore by the agency.
The adjudicating authority has also trashed the premise of the case -- that a loan was given by the ICICI Bank to Videocon Group following which an alleged kickback of Rs 64 crore was paid to Deepak Kochhar.
Tushar V Shah (Member, Law), adjudicating authority, said in a detailed 800-page order on Thursday that the loan of Rs 300 crore to Videocon International Electronics Ltd (VIEL) by ICICI Bank in September 2009 was never declared NPA (non-performing asset) and was in line with the credit policy of the bank. He further observed that the loan was repaid; so there was no question of a loss to the bank and that Chanda Kochhar was just one of the members in loan sanctioning committee and that the “decision to sanction any loans could not have been taken by her individually.”
Shah also termed the investment of Rs 64 crore in Deepak Kochhar’s Nupower Renewables Ltd (NRL) from Venugopal Dhoot’s SEPL (Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd) a business transaction. He observed that the agency failed to establish that this money was proceeds of crime.
“The FIR fails to justify any investigation having been done before alleging the wrongful loss in respect of the said RTL (rupee term loan) of Rs 300 crore from ICICI Bank to M/s VIEL. The said RTL loan account of Rs 300 crores is shown by Chanda Kochhar to be not declared NPA,” the order stated.
The federal anti-money laundering agency provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs 78 crore including Rs 10.5 lakh cash belonging to Kochhars and their flat at CCI Chambers, Church Gate, Mumbai in January . According to the law, a PMLA adjudicating authority has to sign off on any attachment.
Regarding the CCI Chambers flat of Kochhars, which the agency has alleged was part of the kickback, the Adjudicating Authority observed: “It is beyond doubt that the flat was purchased by Deepak Kochhar in the year 1995-96 much before the period of alleged scheduled offences i.e. 2009-2012 and prior to coming into force of PMLA, 2002.” He further observed that the “flat was not from the alleged proceeds of crime and the consideration paid way back in the year 1995-96 could not have been designated as proceeds of crime, from any source whatsoever.”
He also criticised Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for not yet interrogating senior officials of the bank: Sandeep Bakshi, K Ramkumar, Sonjoy Chatterjee, N S Kannan, Zarin Daruwala, Rajiv Sabharwal, K V Kamath and Homi Khusrokhan. These people were members of sanctioning committees of ICICI Bank at different periods.
ED officials who didn’t want to be named said the order of Adjudicating Authority will be challenged. An agency spokesperson wasn’t immediately available for comment.
Kochhar’s lawyer Vijay Aggarwal said: “ED galloping ahead before CBI is not contemplated in law and this practice of ED attaching properties and arresting people on the basis of CBI FIR has been exposed; ED complaint filed without CBI having moved an inch is clear abuse.”
