Chanda Kochhar, husband Deepak released from jail on interim bail

Mumbai: Former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar were released from jail on Tuesday morning, a day after the Bombay High Court granted them interim bail in a loan fraud case, a police official said.

Chanda Kochhar walked out of the Byculla women's prison in Mumbai, while her husband was released from the Arthur Road jail, the official said.

The CBI arrested Kochhars on December 23, 2022 in connection with the Videocon-ICICI Bank loan case.

The couple had filed petitions in the Bombay High Court challenging their arrest, terming it as illegal and arbitrary.

The HC on Monday granted them interim bail and came down heavily on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for making the arrest in a "casual and mechanical" manner and without application of mind.

The CBI named the Kochhars, Videocon group founder Venugopal Dhoot along with Nupower Renewables (NRL) - managed by Deepak Kochhar - Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and Videocon Industries Ltd as accused in the FIR (first information report) linked to the case registered in 2019 under Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The central agency has alleged that ICICI Bank, headed by Chanda Kochhar from 2009 to 2018, sanctioned credit facilities to the tune of Rs 3,250 crore to these companies in violation of norms.

It further claimed that as a part of quid pro quo (Latin expression literally meaning "something for something"), Dhoot made an investment of Rs 64 crore in Nupower Renewables through Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd (SEPL), and transferred SEPL to Pinnacle Energy Trust managed by Deepak Kochhar through a circuitous route between 2010 and 2012.