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Chanda Kochhar Seeks Relief For Son's Wedding

Chanda Kochhar claims that the arrest is illegal.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>Chanda Kochhar. (Photo: Surat Singh/BQ Prime) </p></div>
Chanda Kochhar. (Photo: Surat Singh/BQ Prime)

Chanda Kochhar, former ICICI Bank Ltd. CEO and MD, along with her husband Deepak Kochhar, who are currently under judicial custody in the Videocon loan case, have sought their release as interim relief before the Bombay High Court.

The relief has been sought in a petition filed for the quashing of an FIR filed by the CBI under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In light of their son's upcoming wedding on Jan. 15, the relief has been sought.

The Kochhars had approached the vacation bench of the High Court seeking quashing of the FIR filed by the CBI earlier last week. The court had refused to entertain the petition because the matter was not urgent.

Chanda Kochhar and Deepak Kochhar were arrested by the CBI last month in relation to several irregularities in a Rs 3,250 crore loan advanced to Videocon Group in 2012 while the bank was under her leadership. These loans later turned out to be non-performing assets.

A probe into the loans in 2019 by the CBI revealed that Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon Group invested crores of rupees in Nupower Renewables Ltd., a company founded by Deepak Kochhar soon after the loan was given, revealing a conflict of interest.

Amit Desai, counsel for Chanda Kochhar, argued that the arrest was illegal as Kochhar, a woman, was arrested after sunset and therefore should be set aside.

According to the law, a woman cannot be arrested after sunset unless under special circumstances. Also, the law stipulates that the arrest should be made by a policewoman, which was not met in the above case.

Kochhar's counsel also argued that the arrest was in violation of existing procedural laws as notice was issued before the arrest was made. The law stipulated that sufficient notice should be given before an arrest is made.

On the other hand, the CBI sought time to reply to the above arguments. The court, noting that sufficient opportunity should be given to the opposing party, allowed the plea and has directed the agency to file its reply.

The court will hear the matter in detail on Jan. 6.

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