SC issues notice to Chanda Kochhar on CBI’s plea seeking cancellation of her bail

New Delhi, Sep 6 : The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to former ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar on a plea filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking cancellation of her bail in the alleged Videocon loan fraud case.

A bench, headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, agreed to examine the CBI’s special leave petition against the Bombay High Court order confirming its earlier order granting interim bail to the Kochhar couple.

The Bench, also comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar, issued notice to Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar, and the Maharashtra government, and directed tagging of CBI’s plea with Videocon Group chairman Venugopal Dhoot’s matter, where his release on bail has also been challenged by the CBI. “Issue notice and tag. Order to be served by all modes, including dasti. List along with SLP (Crl) No. 7068/2023 ( CBI plea against Venugopal Dhoot’s bail). Delay condoned,” it ordered. Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing the CBI, apprised the apex court that a charge sheet had been filed against the accused before the trial court and Chanda Kochhar hardly spent “a month” in custody.

In a decision pronounced on February 6 this year, a division bench of Justices Anuja Prabhudessai and Nitin R. Borkar of the Bombay High Court confirmed the interim bail order passed in January last year. “The arrest on 23.12.2022 was not on the basis of any additional material discovered in the course of the investigation but was based on the same material which was within the knowledge of the Investigating Officer at the time of issuance of notice under Section 41A. Such routine arrest without application of mind and due regard to the law amounts to an abuse of power and does not satisfy the requirement of Section 41A(3) Cr.P.C.,” said the high court, adding that the CBI failed to demonstrate the “existence of circumstances or supportive material on the basis of which the decision to arrest was taken.” In February this year, the top court had disposed of the central investigative agency’s plea against the January 2023 decision of the Bombay HC granting interim bail to Kochhar.

However, it had granted liberty to the CBI to file a fresh appeal against the final decision of the High Court confirming the interim bail granted to the Kochhar couple. Chanda Kochhar and her businessman husband are alleged to have received kickbacks over her tenure in lieu of loans provided to the Videocon group.