The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has opposed the plea by former CEO and MD of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar contending that the sanction granted by the bank’s board to prosecute her in the ICICI- Videocon loan fraud case was as per the procedure and the validity of the same would be decided at the time of trial. Kochhar had approached the HC challenging the sanction granted by ICICI bank’s board granting sanction to prosecute her.
Chanda and her husband Deepak Kochhar were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in December 2022 in connection with the alleged ICICI- Videocon quid pro quo loan scam. The agency alleged cheating and irregularities in loans sanctioned by the bank to Videocon Group companies.
ICICI board granted sanction to prosecute Kochhar in April
The Board of the ICICI Bank passed a resolution on April 22, 2023 granting sanction to prosecute Kochhar while accepting that there seemed to be a quid pro-quo.
Kochars counsel Amit Desai submitted that no loss was caused to the bank. He also submitted that the bank did not follow proper procedure while granting sanction to prosecute the former MD and CEO.
CBI counsel Kuldeep Patil said that proper procedure was followed by the bank while granting sanction to prosecute her. Besides, he said that it would be decided at the time of trial whether the sanction was valid or not.
A division bench headed by Justice Revati Mohite- Dere has asked Kochhar to file her rejoinder affidavit and kept the matter for hearing after two weeks.
What are the allegations?
The central agency had arrested Chanda and Deepak Kochhar and founder of Videocon group Venugopal Dhoot. The CBI FIR names Kochhars and Dhoot along with companies Nupower Renewables (NRL) managed by Deepak Kochhar, Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and Videocon Industries Limited, as accused.
According to the CBI, ICICI Bank 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, RBI guidelines, and credit policy of the bank.
