Chanda Kochhar, the former Chief Executive Officer of ICICI Bank, and her husband, Deepak Kochhar, are set to go free after a huge reprieve from an Indian court on Monday, according to a Reuters report quoting their lawyer.
The High Court of Bombay ruled that the arrests of the Kochhars in connection with an alleged loan fraud case involving the bank and Videocon Group were illegal, according to sources cited by Reuters.
Chanda Kochhar and her husband were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Indian federal investigating agency, last month on possible irregularities of a loan of more than Rs 3,000 crore issued to the Videocon Group.
The CBI also detained Videocon Group Chairman Venugopal Dhoot in connection with the ICICI loan scam case.
The Kochhars had contested the CBI’s decision to arrest them on December 23 in connection with an alleged loan fraud case involving the bank and Videocon Group while Chanda Kochhar was in charge of ICICI bank.
They argued in court that their arrest was unlawful since they had been abiding by the agency’s rules, which included not meddling with the investigation.
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While that is a relief for the Kocchars, just before their son’s January 15 wedding, the high court had made clear last week that the petition was being heard not because of the wedding but rather to look into the compliance issue.
In October 2018, Chanda Kochhar, 59, resigned from her position as CEO and managing director of ICICI Bank due to allegations that she had favoured Videocon Group, a consumer electronics and oil and gas exploration business.
A year later, ICICI said it would label Kochhar’s firing as “termination for cause,” alleging that she had broken the bank’s standards and code of conduct.
(With inputs from agencies)
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