On July 15, a Mumbai court accepted the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) chargesheet in the Videocon-ICICI Bank loan case.
Additionally, former ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar, and Videocon Group Chairman Venugopal Dhoot were also called by special CBI judge SP Naik-Nimbalkar to appear in court on August 2.
What did the court say?
The court noted that the evidence suggested, at least on the surface, that Kochhar had received through businesses started by her husband a portion of the loan provided by the bank to Videocon Group as “reward.”
The judge went on to say that the CBI had gathered enough evidence throughout its investigation to support the accusations made against the defendants.
The court further stated that only public employees, bankers, merchants, or agents can be held accountable for crimes involving criminal conspiracy, hatching of a criminal conspiracy with the intention of defrauding, and criminal breach of trust, and Chanda Kochhar was the only employee involved in this case.
What is the case?
The CBI detained Chanda and her husband Deepak Kochhar on December 24 of last year on charges of fraud and irregularities in the 3,250 crore loan given to the Videocon Group in 2012.
The complainant claimed that the transactions had benefitted Kochhar’s spouse and her relatives.
It was claimed that Kochhar approved a loan for the Videocon Group of Companies while she was in charge of ICICI Bank’s operations. Her husband’s business, Nu Renewable, reportedly obtained funding from Videocon as payment in exchange.
Later, the loan became a non-performing asset NPA and was classified as bank fraud.
The special CBI court had remanded them to judicial custody on December 29 after placing them in interim CBI custody.
The High Court ordered Kochhar and her husband’s release on temporary bail on January 9 after ruling that their arrest did not comply with the requirements of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
On January 14, the court gave the CBI permission to add charges against Chanda for criminal breach of trust.
According to the CBI’s chargesheet, ICICI Bank approved six loans to businesses connected to the Videocon Group between 2009 and 2011.
A business connected to Deepak got 64 crore around the same time. This 64 crore sum was used by ICICI Bank as justification for approving Chanda’s prosecution.
Who is Chanda Kochhar?
Former managing director (MD) and managing director (CEO) of ICICI Bank is Chanda Kochhar. She left her employment in 2018 as a result of a conflict of interest. She was then sacked by ICICI Bank, and the Supreme Court of India eventually affirmed that judgment.
Kochhar is an accused in money laundering cases in India. In connection with allegations of loan fraud, the Central Bureau of Investigation detained her in December 2022. For conspiring to provide Videocon with high-value loans in 2009, a lawsuit was brought in 2019.
Kochhar is a part of the US-India CEO Forum and the India-Russia Business Leaders Forum. In 2015–16, she served as the organization’s president, the International Monetary Conference, which annually brings together leaders from 30 nations’ top financial institutions, including over 70 of their chief executives. She serves as the Indian Banks Association’s vice chairperson. IIIT Vadodara’s board of governors is presided over by Kochhar. She is on the boards of both the Institute of International Finance and the National Institute of Securities Markets. Kochhar has served on the Board of Trade, the High-Level Committee on Financing Infrastructure, and the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade & Industry.
