Venugopal Dhoot, Chanda Kochhar, her husband in CBI custody till Dec 28 in loan fraud case

A special CBI court in Mumbai on Monday extended the custody of former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar, and Videocon group founder Venugopal Dhoot till December 28 in connection with a loan fraud case.

A Limosine, the prosecutor representing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), sought three days’ custody. He submitted before the court that while Chanda Kochhar was heading the bank, as many as six loans were sanctioned which are under the scanner. “There is wrongful loss to ICICI bank of Rs 1,730 crores between 2009 and 2011… we are seeking further custody for three more days.”

When judge A S Sayyad asked on which grounds the CBI was seeking extension of custody, Limosine said, “Dhoot is the chairman of Videocon and was arrested this morning at 10.30am… He was not cooperating. He was being summoned but he did not appear and this morning, when he came, he was arrested. We need to confront Dhoot with Kochhars.”

During the hearing, Section 409 of the IPC was added in the case against the accused for criminal breach of trust by a public servant or by a banker, merchant or agent.

Investigating officer Nitesh Kumar told the court, “We called all three accused as we wanted to confront them face to face…On Thursday, Dhoot appeared but Kochhars did not. Again on December 23, Dhoot was called but he did not appear while Kocchars came. When the Kochhars were arrested, Dhoot was called again but he still did not come on December 25. So when he came today, he was arrested.”

The three accused have been arrested for alleged cheating and irregularities in loans sanctioned by ICICI Bank during Kochhar’s tenure to Videocon Group companies.

Dhoot as well as the Kochhars told the court that the loan that was given to Videocon was paid back in full and thus there was no wrongful loss to ICICI Bank and this was reflected in the document perused by CBI.

Advocate S Laddha, appearing for Dhoot, submitted that the businessman was undergoing medical treatment in Aurangabad from where he hails. “We have put Dhoot’s air ticket in the annexure before the court to show that he was indeed out of town and came and went to CBI office. He has crossed 70 years of age and there are no chances of him fleeing. The passport is already surrendered. Just for confronting and recording statement, arrest should not have been made. I am wondering what made them arrest him…,” said Laddha.

Advocate Vikram Chaudhri, appearing for Deepak Kochhar, argued that three judicial authorities have gone through the issue and “have concluded that the case is bereft of any merit.” He added, “This is the most unspecified application filed by CBI stating non cooperation by accused. Accused have a right to remain silent.”

Chaudhri took the court through the latest stage of the Enforcement Directorate’s case against Kochhars and its pendency before the Bombay High Court and the adjudicating authority.

Speaking about the CBI investigation, Chaudhri added, “This investigating agency maintains an eerie silence for four years and arrests Deepak Kochhar when his son’s marriage is fixed for January 15. This is an absolute abuse of power.”

Advocates Amit Desai and Kushal Mor, appearing with Rashmikant and partners for Chanda Kochhar, submitted that the remand copy was a “cut and paste” of the previous remand paper. They said the “invitations for marriage had gone and the pre-wedding ceremonies had started and this is now very embarrassing. This was not something that was anticipated.”

After hearing all the sides, special CBI judge A S Sayyad noted that custodial interrogation would be needed to confront the accused for investigation and hence extended the remand as was sought by the CBI.

The CBI has claimed that ICICI Bank had sanctioned credit facilities to the tune of Rs 3,250 crore to the companies of Videocon Group promoted by Dhoot. This, the agency said, was in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, RBI guidelines, and credit policy of the bank.

Chanda Kochhar is alleged to have pressurised the bank to sanction loans worth Rs 1,875 crore to the Videocon group of companies which allegedly later became non-performing assets (NPA), causing losses to the bank. Apart from this transaction, the CBI alleged wrongful personal gains by the Kochhars in various other transactions too.