Supreme Court Issues Notice on CBI Appeal in Kochhar Videocon Case

The Supreme Court has issued a notice on CBI's appeal against a Bombay High Court order, which declared the arrest of former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband as illegal. The notice seeks responses from the Kochhars and Maharashtra regarding the alleged Videocon loan fraud case.

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice on an appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), challenging a Bombay High Court order that declared the arrest of former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar as 'illegal' in the alleged Videocon loan fraud case. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar sought responses from the Kochhar couple and the state of Maharashtra on the CBI's appeal.

The High Court, which declared the arrests illegal, had granted the Kochhars interim bail on January 9, 2023. In December 2023, the court had dismissed the CBI's reasons for the arrest, which cited non-cooperation and non-disclosure of true facts by the Kochhars.

The CBI arrested the Kochhar couple on December 23, 2022, in connection with the alleged Videocon-ICICI Bank loan fraud case. The agency has also arrested Videocon Group founder Venugopal Dhoot. The case involves allegations that the Kochhars and Dhoot caused a loss to ICICI Bank by sanctioning loans to Videocon Group companies in contravention of the bank's policies. The CBI alleges that the loans, amounting to Rs 3,250 crore, were sanctioned in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, the Reserve Bank of India's guidelines, and ICICI Bank's credit policy.

Chanda Kochhar served as ICICI Bank CEO and MD from 2009 to 2018.

(With inputs from agencies.)