Won’t take coercive action against Chanda Kocchar: SFIO to HC
The 63-year-old had approached the high court apprehending arrest after receiving a notice from the SFIO earlier this month to appear for questioning regarding the case
MUMBAI: The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) on Tuesday told the Bombay high court that it would not take coercive action against Chanda Kochhar, former MD and CEO of ICICI Bank, in the loan fraud case. The 63-year-old had approached the high court apprehending arrest after receiving a notice from the SFIO earlier this month to appear for questioning regarding the case.
Senior advocate Amit Desai, who represented Kocchar, showed the court the SFIO’s notice, which was issued on November 5 at 8.51 pm. He told a bench comprising justice Revati Mohite-Dere and justice Prithviraj Chavan that the SFIO was “working late hours” to send the notice to Kocchar. In her plea, Kochhar contended that senior citizens like her should not be interrogated beyond working hours.
The bench granted interim relief to Kochhar and directed the SFIO not to interrogate her beyond office hours. The court referred to an order it had passed on October 25 ruling that no coercive action should be taken against Kochhar’s husband, Deepak Kochhar, who had received a similar notice from the SFIO. The court had directed the agency to question him only during working hours.
The Kochhars are being investigated under the Prevention of Corruption Act over the sanctioning of loans worth a few thousand crores to Videocon Group firms when she was at the helm of ICICI Bank. Videocon founder Venugopal Dhoot had in turn invested ₹64 crore in Deepak Kochhar’s Nupower Renewables Ltd. A multi-crore-rupee flat in Mumbai owned by the Videocon Group was also allegedly transferred to the Kochhar family trust in 2016 for a meagre ₹11 lakh.
The Kochhars were arrested in 2022 and later granted bail by the high court. Now, after more than three years, the SFIO summoned the couple to appear before it for questioning.
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