The Supreme Court disposed of the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) appeal concerning the interim bail granted to Chanda Kochhar, former CEO of ICICI Bank, and her husband in a case involving loan fraud. The court addresses the CBI’s plea regarding the bail status of Chanda Kochhar and her husband amidst the ongoing legal proceedings related to the alleged loan fraud case.
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court disposed of the CBI’s petition contesting the Bombay High Court’s previous ruling that granted interim bail to former ICICI Bank CEO and MD, Chanda Kochhar, and her spouse, Deepak Kochhar, in a case involving loan fraud.
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The bench, comprising Justices Bela M. Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal, concluded the petition. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who represented the investigative agency. Raju highlighted that although the High Court delivered its judgment last week in the primary case, it had not yet been made available online.
On February 6, the Bombay High Court declared the arrest of Chanda Kochhar and her husband by the CBI “illegal” and upheld its interim bail ruling from January 2023.
The Supreme Court clarified its decision to dispose of the CBI’s plea while affirming the right of either party to contest the high court’s primary verdict within legal bounds.
“We clarify that we have not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case,”
emphasized the bench.
Background
The Kochhars were arrested by the CBI on December 23, 2022, in connection with the Videocon-ICICI Bank loan case. Subsequently, the petitioner moved to the High Court to challenge their arrest, asserting its illegality, and sought interim bail, which was granted on January 9, 2023. The High Court criticized the CBI for their “casual and mechanical” approach to the arrest without due consideration.
The CBI argued that the high court’s presumption of a maximum sentence of seven years failed to account for Section 409 of the IPC, which deals with criminal breach of trust by a public servant, carrying a penalty ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment.
The Supreme Court raised questions about the applicability of Section 409 of the IIndian Penal Code (IPC) to ICICI, a private bank, to which the CBI responded that the case involved public funds despite the bank’s private status.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court asked the CBI to contest the repeated extensions of the Kochhars’ interim bail.
The CBI’s allegations include ICICI Bank’s approval of a Rs 3,250 crore credit to Videocon Group companies, managed by Venugopal Dhoot, purportedly violating banking regulations, RBI guidelines, and the bank’s credit policy.
The FIR, filed in 2019, named Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar, and Dhoot, along with Nupower Renewables (NRL), managed by Deepak Kochhar, Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd, and Videocon Industries Ltd, as accused under Section 120 A Indian penal Code, 1860 which related to criminal conspiracy and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The CBI accused Dhoot of investing Rs. 64 crore in Nupower Renewables through Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd (SEPL) and transferring SEPL to Pinnacle Energy Trust managed by Deepak Kochhar through intricate channels between 2010 and 2012.
