The Central Bureau of Investigation has sought 3-day custody of former MD & CEO of ICICI bank Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar.
They were produced before a Mumbai Special Court on Saturday in connection with alleged cheating and irregularities in loans sanctioned by the bank to Videocon Group companies.
The agency arrested them on Friday alleging that they did not cooperate.
“We had given both accused (Former MD & CEO of ICICI bank Chanda Kochhar & Deepak Kochhar) section 41 CrPC notice, but they didn’t cooperate, so we arrested them,” CBI lawyer said, reported ANI.
We had given both accused (Former MD & CEO of ICICI bank Chanda Kochhar & Deepak Kochhar) section 41 CrPC notice, but they didn’t cooperate, so we arested them: CBI Lawyer
— ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2022
The central agency had earlier booked Chanda Kochhar, her husband, and Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon Group, along with companies Nupower Renewables, Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd, and Videocon Industries Limited, as accused in the FIR registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, according to a report by news agency PTI.
According to reports, 59-year-old Chanda Kochhar resigned as CEO and managing director of ICICI Bank in October 2018 over allegations that she had favoured Videocon Group, a consumer electronics and oil and gas exploration company, in the bank’s lending practices.
It is alleged that Videocon promoter Venugopal Dhoot had reportedly invested crores of rupees in Nupower months after the Videocon Group got Rs 3,250 crore as a loan from ICICI Bank in 2012, CBI said.
CBI, after filing the FIR in 2019, in a statement said that the accused had sanctioned certain loans to private companies in a criminal conspiracy with others to cheat ICICI Bank.
According to a whistleblower, Kochhar’s husband Deepak Kochhar, and her family members had benefited from the dealings.
Saying that she violated the bank’s code of conduct and internal policies, ICICI in 2019 said it would treat Kochhar’s resignation as “termination for cause”.
However, Kochhar had refuted all allegations that have been levelled against her.
“I reiterate that none of the credit decisions at the bank are unilateral … the organisation design and structure obviate the possibility of conflict of interest,” Kochhar had said in a statement.