Bombay High Court grants bail to Deepak Kochhar in ICICI Bank-Videocon PMLA case

By LE Desk

Mumbai, March 26: The Bombay High Court has granted bail to Deepak Kochhar in ICICI Bank-Videocon money laundering case on Thursday.

Kochhar had approached the high court after the Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court rejected his bail application in November 2020.

Deepak Kochhar, husband of former chief executive officer of ICICI Bank, Chanda Kochhar, has been behind bars since the past six months.

Justice PD Naik of the Bombay High Court ordered Deepak Kochhar to furnish a personal bond of Rs 3 lakh and sureties while granting bail. The court also ordered him to surrender his passport and co-operate in the probe, India Today reported.

Kochhar was remanded to Enforcement Directorate’s custody in a money laundering case last September. The ED’s custody then got extended since then from time to time. Kochhar has also been charged with offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The ED registered a complaint against the Kochhar couple and Videocon Group promoter Venugopal Dhoot, following an FIR by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The FIR alleged that they caused losses to ICICI Bank by sanctioning loans to the Videocon Group of Companies in contravention of ICICI Bank policies.

Kochhar’s plea stated that he was exonerated by the PMLA Adjudicating Authority and his custody is hence not required.

The application also stated that the entire case was based on documentary evidence, which is already with the ED, and hence the question of tampering with evidence does not arise.

He stated that the complaint was filed against eleven accused, however, only he was arrested by the agency.

https://www.indiatoday.in/business/story/chanda-kochhar-icici-bank-loan-farud-videoconn-deepak-kochhafr-1783732-2021-03-25