Indian court grants bail to ICICI Bank ex-CEO Chanda Kochhar (updated)

Videocon Industries (India)

09/01/2023 09:50

(Adds details from court order)
       MUMBAI, Jan 9 (Reuters) - An Indian court on Monday
granted bail to former ICICI Bank  ICBK.NS  chief executive
Chanda Kochhar and her husband after they were arrested in
December in connection with an alleged loan fraud case involving
the bank and Videocon Group
    Kochhar was one of India's highest-profile business leaders
before she was ousted as ICICI CEO in 2019 following allegations
that the bank, under her watch, sanctioned "high value" loans to
Videocon in violation of its lending policies.
    In return, Videocon's owner invested in NuPower Renewables,
founded by Kochhar's husband Deepak, the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) alleges. The agency arrested Videocon
Chairman Venugopal Dhoot late last month.
    All the parties have denied the allegations of loan fraud.
    The Bombay High Court on Monday ordered that the Kochhars be
released on bail.
    It said the arrests, done by the CBI alleging that the
Kochhars had been not been cooperating with the investigation,
were "not in accordance with law".
    "The ground for arresting the petitioners as stated in the
arrest memos, is unacceptable and is contrary to the
reason(s)/ground(s) on which a person can be arrested," said the
order by judges Prithviraj K. Chavan and Revati Mohite Dere.
    The Kochhars will be released on cash bail of 100,000 rupees
 ($1,214) each "for a period of two weeks".
($1 = 82.3600 Indian rupees)
 (Reporting by Jayshree Pyasi and Arpan Chaturvedi; Writing by
Sudipto Ganguly and Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Krishna N. Das)
 ((sudipto.ganguly@thomsonreuters.com; +91 7738571441; Twitter:
@Sudipto_Reuters;))