HC grants relief to Chanda Kochhar, directs SFIO not to take coercive action against her

Bombay High Court directs Serious Fraud Investigation Office not to interrogate former ICICI Bank CEO and Managing Director of ICICI, Chanda Kochhar, beyond office hours and not to take coercive action against her  

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) informed the Bombay High Court on Tuesday that they would not interrogate former ICICI Bank CEO and Managing Director of ICICI, Chanda Kochhar, beyond office hours. Ms. Kochhar had filed a plea in the High Court contending that senior citizens like her should not be summoned and interrogated beyond working hours.

The SFIO officials had summoned Ms. Kochhar for questioning on November 22, 2024.

Hearing the plea, a Division Bench of Justice Revati Mohite-Dere and Justice Prithviraj K. Chavan granted interim relief to Ms. Kochhar and directed the SFIO not to take coercive action against her. The Bench also mandated that any questioning of Ms. Kochhar should take place only during office hours.

Advocate Rohan Dakshini filed the plea for Ms. Kochhar immediately after the SFIO issued a summon for interrogating her on November 22.

Advocate Amit Desai argued that the summons is made after a three-year gap in a case that she was already being investigated for.

On October 25, 2024, the High Court ruled that no coercive action should be taken against Ms. Kochhar’s businessman husband Deepak Kochhar by the SFIO and that he should not be questioned beyond office hours.

Advocates Amit Desai and Ashwin Thool submitted to the Bench that the agency had detained their client Mr. Kochhar, and questioned him from 10.30 a.m. till late into the night on October 22, 2024, which was a violation of a citizen’s fundamental right.

They also argued that Mr. Kochhar was questioned despite him not being a director or shareholder or affiliated with any companies that are under investigation. He was summoned again on October 28, 2024. All the transactions under the case were already examined by the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation, they argued. Following this hearing, Ms. Kochhar had filed a plea in the High Court.

The case dates to the year 2017 when the CBI started a preliminary inquiry against Ms. Kochhar and her husband in connection with their link in a case related to sanction of loan by the ICICI Bank to the Videocon Group and the investment of ₹64 crore by Venugopal Dhoot into Mr. Kochhar’s Nupower Renewables Ltd.

In 2019, the ED began its investigation pertaining to the ₹64-crore investment, and also about a flat at CCI Chambers in Mumbai. Following the probe, in 2020 the ED arrested Mr. Kochhar. In 2022, he was arrested by the CBI, but was granted bail by the High Court. Three years later, on October 18, 2024, Mr. Kochhar was summoned by the SFIO.

Published - November 19, 2024 08:45 pm IST