Supreme Court Issues Notice On CBI's Challenge Against Bail Granted To Chanda Kochhar & Husband in ICICI Bank Videocon Load Fraud Case

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice in a plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging the bail granted to former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband, Deepak Kochhar, in the ICICI Bank-Videocon loan fraud caseA bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi was hearing the central agency's special leave petition against an order passed by the Bombay High Court in January this year directing the release of Kochhar and her husband. They were arrested in December of last year by the CBI in connection with the alleged irregularities in several high-value loans sanctioned to the Videocon group-owned firms, but subsequently released for two weeks on the court's order.On the last occasion, the court questioned whether the CBI's plea against the high court's January order granting two weeks' bail has become infructuous now. After Additional Solicitor-General SV Raju pointed out that bail had been continuing since January despite the period prescribed, the asked why the CBI had not moved an application in the high court for the Kochhars to be remanded to custody after the expiry of the bail period, instead of filing a special leave petition in the Supreme Court. Justice Bela M Trivedi said, "You should have resisted there instead of coming here. Why are you permitting it to continue? This has been continuing with your permission and consent. The bail was granted only for two weeks in January. According to us, [this plea] has become infructuous because this order was only for two weeks. It was for you to move an objection there..."When ASG Raju assured that he would ask his counterpart in the high court to file an appropriate application, Justice Bose questioned whether the original order from January 9 was 'appealable'. Adjourning the brief hearing until today, Justice Bose said to ASG Raju, "You'll have to challenge subsequent orders. We'll list it on Monday. Come back after taking instructions on whether invalidating this order will be effective or not."During today's hearing, the law office argued that the high court order is 'absolutely perverse' since "it proceeded on a wrong assumption the offence which the Kochhars had allegedly committed is punishable with seven years' imprisonment. "But the court did not consider the offence under Section 409 of the Indian Penal Code," ASG Raju added."How is Section 409 attracted? It's a private sector bank," Justice Bose asked. Under this provision, a public servant, or a banker, merchant, or agent is punished for a criminal breach of trust with either life imprisonment or imprisonment for up to ten years, along with a fine."As far as the monies are concerned, it is public monies. Bank officers considered to be public servants under Prevention of Corruption Act, even in the private sector," ASG Raju explained."Alright, issue notice," Justice Bose directed, before asking the law officer, "When is the other matter coming? We want to take them up together.""Only notice has been issued in this. No date has been given yet," ASG Raju answered, referring to another plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation challenging an interim bail order passed by the high court in favour of Videocon Group Chairman Venugopal Dhoot in the loan fraud case. Notice was issued in July by a coordinate bench headed by Justice AS Bopanna in the other petition. Initially, Justice Bose indicated that they would prefer hearing both matters together. But when ASG Raju asked for the next date of hearing to be specified, the judge said, "We don't know. Because that matter is not before this bench...""Whichever bench it may go before. It's an open-and-shut case," ASG Raju insisted."But we cannot fix the date for that matter," Justice Bose explained. In response, the law officer argued against tagging of the two matters. "Then let it not be tagged. The orders are different..."The bench agreed. Justice Bose pronounced, "Notice issued. Returnable after three weeks."BackgroundChanda Kochhar, who began her career at the ICICI Bank as a trainee officer in 1984 and rose through the ranks, served as the managing director and chief executive officer of the bank from May 1, 2009, until October 2018. Her last appointment’s term was set to end on March 31, 2019. However, in May 2018, the ICICI Bank initiated a private inquiry against Kochhar following a whistle-blower’s complaint, leading to her taking leave. However, as per the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the managing director of a bank is entitled to no more than four months of leave, prompting Kochhar to apply for early retirement in October 2018, an application that was accepted by the bank. Subsequently, the bank reclassified her early retirement as a termination in early 2019 after the inquiry found violations related to disclosure norms about conflicts of interest. These issues primarily revolved around loans granted to the Videocon Group and its connection to her husband, Deepak Kochhar. The bank treated her October ...

Supreme Court Issues Notice On CBI's Challenge Against Bail Granted To Chanda Kochhar & Husband in ICICI Bank Videocon Load Fraud Case

Awstika Das

Tags