Bombay HC grants bail to ex-ICICI CEO Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak

The Bombay High Court that granted interim bail to former ICICI CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar in the Videocon loan fraud case, said that their arrest is not in accordance with the law.

Mumbai: Observing that the arrest of former ICICI CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar in the Videocon loan fraud case has not been made in accordance with law, the Bombay High Court granted interim bail the high profile duo on Monday. The court passed the latest order after holding a hearing on the Rs 3,000-cr ICICI bank-Videocon loan fraud case on Monday.

A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and P K Chavan held that the arrest of the Kochhars was in violation of Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which mandates sending notice for appearance before the police officer concerned. The couple was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on December 23, 2022, in connection with the Videocon loan case. They are presently in judicial custody along with Videocon group founder Venugopal Dhoot.

"According to the facts, the petitioners' (Kochhars') arrest was not done in accordance with the provisions of law. There has been non-compliance of section 41(A) thus warranting their release," the court said. Senior counsel Amit Desai appearing for Chanda Kochhar had argued that she was arrested without compliance under Section 46(4) of the CrPC as there was no presence of a female police officer during her arrest. The section stipulates that no woman can be arrested after sunset and before sunrise without obtaining prior permission of the judicial magistrate. Desai submitted that Chanda Kochhar's arrest memo did not include the name of the female police officer.

Amit Desai further said Chanda Kochhar had cooperated with the CBI in its probe into the case and appeared before the agency as and when summoned for questioning. Desai submitted that Chanda Kochhar had offered to give a statement to the CBI in 2019 when the FIR was registered, however, she received no response.

Till July 2022, the CBI had not even issued summons, and then there was arrest in December on the ground of non-cooperation. "What is it that compelled the CBI to exercise powers of arrest? Ground of non co-operation is subjective", Desai submitted.

Senior counsel Vikram Chaudhari appearing for Deepak Kochhar had argued that the latter had also been co-operating with the central agency in its probe into the case. However, senior counsel Raja Thakare, appearing for the CBI, said there was no violation of statutory or constitutional provisions during the arrest of the Kochhars.

The CBI has alleged that private sector lender ICICI Bank had sanctioned credit facilities to the tune of Rs 3,250 crore to the companies of Videocon Group promoted by Dhoot in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, Reserve Bank of India's guidelines, and credit policy of the bank.

The CBI had named Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar as well as Dhoot along with Nupower Renewables Ltd (NRL) managed by Deepak Kochhar, Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and Videocon Industries Ltd as accused in the FIR registered in 2019 under IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act criminal conspiracy and corruption.

The central further alleged that as a part of quid pro quo, Dhoot made an investment of Rs 64 crore in Nupower Renewables through Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd (SEPL), and transferred SEPL to Pinnacle Energy Trust managed by Deepak Kochhar through a circuitous route between 2010 and 2012.