In a massive relief for former ICICI CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar, the Bombay High Court today granted interim bail to the couple, allowing their release from judicial custody. The court also observed that the “arrest was not in accordance with the law.”
A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and P K Chavan in its 49-page judgment on Monday said their arrest was not in accordance with the provisions of law. The petitioners are entitled to be released on bail, pending the hearing and final disposal of the petitions, the HC said and listed the petitions for hearing on February 6.
Casual Arrest: Bombay High Court
The court said, “the reason given in the arrest memos to arrest the petitioners, having regard to the facts as stated aforesaid, appears to us, to be casual, mechanical and perfunctory, clearly without application of mind.” The bench held that the arrest of Kochhars was in violation of Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which mandates sending notice for appearance before the police officer concerned.
“According to the facts, the petitioners’ (Kochhars) arrest was not done in accordance with the provisions of law. There has been non-compliance of section 41(A) thus warranting their release,” the high court said. “The arrest has not been in conformity with the provisions of law,” it added.
Sources say CBI is likely to move Supreme Court today challenging the Bombay HC order favouring Chanda kochchar & Deepak Kochchar.
The duo were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on December 23, 2022 in a money laundering case involving a loan from the ICICI bank and the Videocon Group. The group had taken a loan of Rs 3,250 crore from the bank in 2012.
The CBI had also arrested Videocon Group’s Venugopal Dhoot in connection with the same fraud case, days after the Kochhars were arrested.
The court in its Monday judgement said, “Admittedly, during the period, 2019 till June 2022, for around four years, neither any summons were issued to the petitioners nor any communication was established by the respondent No.1 CBI with the petitioners.”
“What was the reason to arrest the petitioners after four years is not spelt out in the arrest memos,” the judgment said. The bench said even the special CBI court while hearing the remand of Kochhars had overlooked the mandate of law and said if the provisions of law have not been satisfied, then the court was duty-bound to release the accused forthwith.
The Kochhars and Dhoot, as well as the companies Nupower Renewables (NRL), Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd, and Videocon Industries Limited, were all named as accused in the FIR that was filed in 2019 under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The CBI had claimed that ICICI Bank granted credit facilities totaling 3,250 crore to Videocon Group companies promoted by Dhoot in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, RBI guidelines, and the bank’s credit policy.
The FIR also stated that, Dhoot made a 64 crore investment in Nupower Renewables through Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd (SEPL) and transferred SEPL to Pinnacle Energy Trust managed by Deepak Kochhar through a circuitous route between 2010 and 2012.
Following the corruption allegations against Chanda Kochhar, she was fired as the CEO of ICICI Bank in 2019. The enforcement authorities had also claimed that Kochhar had approved ‘high value’ loans to Videocon Industries, in violation of the bank’s lending policies. In exchange, Videocon’s owner reportedly made an investment in Deepak Kochhar’s NuPower Renewables.
The Kochhar couple, Dhoot, and others were charged with money laundering by the Enforcement Directorate in 2019.
According to media reports, Venugopal Dhoot invested Rs 64 crore in Nupower Renewables through Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd (SEPL) and transferred SEPL to Pinnacle Energy Trust managed by Deepak Kochhar via an indirect route, and most of the loans made during Chanda Kochhar’s tenure became non-performing assets, resulting in a Rs 1,730 crore loss to the bank.
(With inputs from PTI)
Read all the Latest India News here
Comments
0 comment