Chanda Kochhar’s arrest by the CBI is unacceptable; the judge will order her release.
The significant reprieve occurs just before the Kocchars’ son’s wedding on January 15.
Former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar will be released after a court today ruled that their arrests earlier this month were unlawful.
The Bombay High Court’s significant respite comes just before the Kocchars’ son’s wedding on January 15.
The two had contested the Central Bureau of Investigation‘s (CBI) decision to arrest them on December 23 in connection with a case involving suspected irregularities in a $3,000,000,000 loan given to the Videocon Group while Chanda Kochhar was in charge of the private sector bank.
Regarding the wedding of their son, they had also questioned the timing of the arrest.
The CBI also detained Videocon Group Chairman Venugopal Dhoot in connection with the ICICI loan scam case.
Before the High Court, the Kochhars contended that their detention was unlawful since they had been abiding by the agency’s rules, which included not meddling with the investigation.
The court made it clear last week that it was hearing the Kochhars’ petitions not in order to celebrate the wedding of their son but rather to look into the issue of compliance.
The Kochhars, Venugopal Dhoot, the Deepak Kochhar-managed NuPower Renewables (NRL), Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd., and Videocon Industries Limited have all been the targets of corruption and conspiracy cases brought by the CBI.
According to the CBI, ICICI Bank violated the Banking Regulation Act, RBI norms, and the bank’s credit policy when it approved a 3,250-crore loan for businesses belonging to the Videocon group.
Investigators claim that between 2010 and 2012, Venugopal Dhoot invested 64 crores in Deepak Kochhar’s Nupower Renewables through Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd (SEPL), and then transferred SEPL to Pinnacle Energy Trust, which is also run by Deepak Kochhar.