In an exoneration of the husband of former ICICI bank Managing Director Chanda Kochhar and businessman Deepak Kochhar, the Bombay High Court on Friday ruled that they should not be prosecuted by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) and should only be questioned while on duty. hours on any given day.
A bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Rohit Wasudeo Joshi passed the order while hearing Kochhar’s plea that senior citizens like him be summoned and questioned only during working hours.
Kochhar is being investigated under the Prevention of Corruption Act in connection with loans worth over Rs 3,200 crores given to the Videocon group during his tenure.
On Friday, Advocate Amit Desai and Ashwin Thool submitted before the court that Deepak Kochhar was summoned by SFIO officials on October 22 and was detained and interrogated till night in violation of his fundamental rights.
Kochhar filed this application through Thool and stated that he was summoned by the SFIO even though he is not a director or shareholder and, in any way, connected to any of the companies that the SFIO is investigating.
Kochhar’s application also revealed that the transactions questioned by the SFIO, have been probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
QUESTION QUESTION
It was in 2017 that the CBI started a preliminary investigation against Kochhar and his wife, Chanda Kochhar, the former MD and CEO of ICICI for alleged links between the sanctioning of loans by ICICI Bank to the Videocon Group and investments of funds. of Rs 64 crores by VN Dhoot through his company SEPL entering Kochhar’s Nupower Renewables Ltd (NRL).
In 2019, the ED also started its investigation related to the investment of Rs 64 crores and a flat in CCI Chambers in Mumbai. Deepak Kochhar was arrested in 2020 by the financial investigation agency and later by the CBI in 2022. He was then granted bail by the Supreme Court.
Now, after more than three years, Kochhar has received a summons from the SFIO to appear before it on October 18. NRPL and Supreme Energy B, C 28 Pvt. Ltd. (shareholder of NRPL) also received Notices from SFIO to submit information regarding financial transactions entered into with Videocon Industries Ltd. and its 12 subsidiaries.
Pursuant to the summons being sent, Deepak Kochhar reported to the SFIO Office on October 22 at 10.30 am. He said the SFIO officials started questioning him at 10.45 in the morning and ended at 10:10 at night. The SFIO summoned him again on October 28 for questioning.
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