The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice on an appeal filed by CBI challenging a Bombay High Court order declaring the arrest of former ICICI Bank CEO-cum-MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar as “illegal” in the alleged Videocon loan fraud case.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar sought response from Kochhar couple and Maharashtra on the appeal of the CBI.
While declaring their arrest as illegal, the High Court confirmed to grant the couple interim bail on January 9, 2023.
The High Court had rejected CBI’s arrest reasons memo in December 2023 that non-cooperation and non-disclosure of true facts of the case.
The CBI arrested the Kochhar couple on December 23, 2022, in connection with the alleged Videocon-ICICI Bank loan fraud case.
Apart from the Kochhar couple, the CBI has also arrested Videocon group founder Venugopal Dhoot in the case.
The CBI had registered a case against the Kochhar couple, Videocon Group promoter Venugopal Dhoot, and others for allegedly causing loss to the ICICI Bank by sanctioning loans to the Videocon Group of companies in contravention of the bank’s policies.
The central agency had alleged that ICICI Bank had sanctioned credit facilities to the tune of Rs 3,250 crore to the companies of the Videocon group in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, the Reserve Bank of India’s guidelines, and the credit policy of the top private lender.
Chanda Kochhar was ICICI Bank CEO and MD from 2009 to 2018.
(With ANI Inputs)
