Chanda Kochhar moves Bombay High Court against her arrest by CBI in ICICI-Videocon loan case

Former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar and husband Deepak Kochhar moved the Bombay High Court on Tuesday challenging their illegal arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case connected to irregularities in loans provided to Venugopal Dhoot’s Videocon Group..The petition was mentioned today before a vacation bench comprising of Justices Madhav Jamdar and SG Chapalgaonkar.However, the bench refused to grant urgent hearing to Kochhar.Advocate Kushal Mor for Kochhar contended that the arrest of Kochhars was illegal on two grounds.First, the agency had not obtained proper sanction which is mandatory under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act for arresting a public servant. Second, the arrest had been carried out 4 years after registration of the FIR, which was a violation of Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure.In light of this, Mor requested the Court to urgently hear the matter for quashing the remand order and releasing Kochhars till the petition is finally heard. .The vacation bench was, however, not inclined to hear the plea opining that a petition seeking quashing of an order and FIR did not having any pressing urgency that required immediate hearing. The bench asked Mor to approach the regular court for bail.Mor, however, argued that since the arrest was illegal since inception, it was pertinent that the Court hear the plea for the release of the accused from CBI custody.The Bench asked Mor to approach the regular benches once High Court reopens after the winter break. .The couple was arrested on December 24 by CBI in New Delhi and produced before a Special CBI Court in Mumbai on December 25. Chanda is accused of cheating and irregularities in loan of ₹3,250 crore granted in 2012 to the Videocon Group. The loan had become a non-performing asset for the ICICI Bank.A whistleblower alleged in the complaint that Kochhar's husband and her family members benefited from the dealings.It was alleged that when Kochhar was at the helm of affairs at ICICI Bank, she cleared a loan for Videocon Group of Companies. As quid pro quo, her husband's company Nu Renewable allegedly received investment from Videocon.The loan later turned into a NPA and was termed as bank fraud.The Kochhars are in CBI custody till tomorrow.