Videocon loan case: Supreme Court issues notice in plea by CBI challenging interim bail to Chanda Kochhar

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice in the plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging the interim bail granted by the Bombay High Court to former ICICI bank chief Chanda Kochhar in the Videocon loan case..A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi stated that the matter will be taken up next after three weeks.Additional Solicitor General SV Raju appeared for the CBI..In January this year, Bombay High Court had ordered the interim release of former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar from judicial custody after their arrest by the CBI.A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and PK Chavan had held that the arrest was in violation of Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which mandates sending of a notice for appearance before the concerned police officer prior to carrying out an arrest in certain cases. The High Court also noted that the arrests were made four years after the criminal complaint was registered.."Arrest made after 4 years": Why Bombay High Court granted interim bail to Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar [READ ORDER].The interim bail granted by the High Court was later extended, leading to the instant appeal by the CBI before the Supreme Court.In an earlier hearing, the Supreme Court had remarked that the central agency should have opposed the extensions vehemently before the High Court rather than waiting to approach the top court..Chanda along with her husband Deepak Kochhar was arrested by CBI on December 24 last year on allegations of cheating and irregularities in the grant of loans worth ₹3,250 crores in 2012 to the Videocon Group.The complainant had alleged 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 the 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 non-performing asset (NPA) and was termed as bank fraud.After the initial CBI custody period was over, the special CBI court had remanded them to judicial custody on December 29.